Templar - A Konosuba Story
by Kastelan-111
Summary: A grittier take on Konosuba, on how another reincarnate comes to take up the title of 'Champion' in Kazuma's party, and defeats the Demon King
1. Prologue

**This Chapter is purely for the introduction of the character, Bayard, Himself, and is not absolutely vital to the story. As such, If you wish to skip part of reincarnation and his previous life just move onto 'Chapter 1'**

They never tell you what it feel's like to die a true death.

Mortal humans, as we see ourselves, cannot fathom the idea of _death_, ad mortem, because our minds cannot comprehend the idea of not existing.

We cannot comprehend our mortality, and the shattering realization that we are just creatures of flesh and bone; that once we _die_, that's it. Our strings cut, the brain stops sending signals to the rest of the body, we die.

So why is it that when I experienced death, I find myself in a checkered room, standing in front of a sitting goddess?

Context, as always, finds itself in my writings so let me explain to my more uninformed readers as to how this came about.

My name is Bayard Norton, and I was 17 at the time of my death. Born American, I was raised in the South Western states. Of course none of this is terribly important, but my writing just wouldn't be complete without _context._ I had just completed my Junior year of school, and my summer wish to visit Japan was coming ever closer. By the time we stepped off our flight I was practically aching to get out and explore the country that had fascinated me since a child. It was on the 3rd day of our month long trip that we were visiting the cultural city of Osaka.

_Quite the beautiful city, mind you._

In all my relatively short life I have never considered myself a resoundingly brave man.

I have also never considered myself a relatively stupid one either.

I was walking down one of the many crowded streets of Osaka, awkwardly conversing in small talk with a man I had met just minutes before in cafe. I sat down at the same table as him because he was a westerner as well. Through brief conversation, I learned that his name was "Matt", shortened for a fuller name he didn't tell me. I also learned that he was heading to the same place I was, one of the many attractions geared towards the younger tourists of Japan.

Jet black hair, slicked back. The Tracksuit. And the aura of awe to everything about the city we were in. I did not have the pleasure of knowing him well, but from my guessing of his age and his constant _dis_traction at everything around him I could only guess that he was like me. A young, graduating tourist visiting from the west, in a country he only dreamed of. I was shocked to find that I was a mirror perfect copy of his attitude, albeit without the worryingly look of naivety to him.  
I could only guess that it was that worryingly look naivety and wonder that made me act the way I did.

Truthfully, the reporters and news casters will play up my bravery.

"Brave tourist from the West saves young man in Osaka, at the cost of his own life.."

A salaryman, aging in his late 30's, was simply doing his morning commute across his birth city. A commute he had done hundreds of times before and will likely do thousands of times more as he lived his life. This simply commute was just routine to the man, and on that spectacular tuesday morning he simply drifted away in his thoughts while driving.

I do not blame the man. But I do blame his horrible reaction timing.

He was going down the street that the and I were walking, obviously not paying attention to the road, but I digress. I was the first to notice the barraling car, damn him, and I acted out of pure instinct.

I pushed "Matt" out of the way.

The car hit me, of course. The impact shattered most of my rib cage and lower body, but what truly ensured my death was the flight and impact on the ground as I flew down the street; gory and bloodied. Mercifully I was practically dead before I hit the pavement.

So that leads me here, sitting in a room I never thought to exist, in front of some beautiful goddess.

"Bayard Norton, Welcome to the afterlife. Unfortunately, you've passed in your world. Terrible that someone so young should pass so violently.. Ah! Forgive me. My name is Eris, and I will be the one to deal out your fate."

Eris, this supposed goddess of the afterlife, was wearing a purple and yellow dress, along with silver hair to match. She also had piercing, purple eyes; eyes that could make any man swell up with pride or be reduced to sobbing with but a change of attitude.

"I don't suppose you could answer a question for me?" I inquired.

She nodded.

"What… happened to the boy after I died? In fact what's happening to _me_ right now?"

She paused for a moment, and answered, "The Boy you pushed out of the way is fine, he survived with minimal injuries and was the first one to your body."

she stopped.

"Your body is currently at a hospital in Osaka. The story of how you sacrificed yourself for a random stranger is making headlines around the world, mostly in your home country.. Your family is, and I apologize, _devastated_." She looked at me with sympathetic eyes, an almost expectant look of how I was going to take the news.

"My family and I were distant, to say the least." I said, facing the ground. "By the time I was in Japan, most of my activities were done alone. My accompanying family simply strayed away to the more obvious attractions, knowing I would be fine without them."

I returned her look with a mask of stoicism, in truth I was indeed saddened. Saddened by the prospect of my family having to deal with such a tragedy, not the tragedy itself.

"But, regardless, where does that put me now? Will I be raptured into heaven? Damned in hell?"

"I understand that you are of Western birth, and therefor used to their customs. But due to the matter and state of your death, your fate lies in the jurisdiction of us."

I turn back to her, indicating her to continue, "We can offer reincarnation, as far as the rules allow. Or.. We can offer starting life in a new world. A world different from the one you previously lived in."

I hadn't realized, but she had captured my fullest attention. _A new world?_

Noticing my interest, she continued. "This world plays host to reincarnates like you, people from your world brought there to help the fight against the Demon King. Normally, most of these devils and demons are ignored by us gods. But.. This Dark Lord is jealous of us and wishes to have what he cannot, and so we enlist the help of Heroes brought there in the attempt to stop him. You could become just like one of these Heroes. Of course, there will be hardsh-" I stop her. "I'm in. What are the conditions?"

She seemed shocked. Taking a moment to regain her train of thought, she continued, explaining how and where I'd be sent. More interestingly, she explained the system of _cheat items_ that reincarnates can bring into the world to help in the fight. "I can offer from a wide selection of items: Weapons that can sunder mountains, Armor that can block even the deadliest of blows, and other more exotic types of gifts." She winced saying the last part, almost as if it brought back troubling memories.

"Did something happen before I came here? You seemed like you were surprised that I accepted the offer and even winced bringing up a part of these cheat items."

Sighing, she answered in a sing-songless tune, "Yes, the man before you requested the goddess who once previously held this job. My bosses accepted."

I was stunned. "How long ago did this happen?" I asked.

"About 2 weeks ago now, and surprisingly Aqua and Kazuma are even still alive!"

Ignoring the dark connotation at the end, she continued on explaining more of these cheat items. It turns out that the reincarnate just chooses one from a selection of items and is sent to the world, no questions asked. Staring at the options out in front of me I couldn't help but wonder _what sort of world needs these things?!_

I turned back to Eris, happily watching as I decided what to bring. '_Is this the first time she's done this?' _I wondered, observing how she was giving me her fullest, undivided attention.

Standing, I turned and said to her, "I've decided that I will not decide here; not now. I would much rather have the option later once I get a feel of this world."

She once again almost yelped in surprise, clearly not used to the fact that I could just refuse her offer. '_She was pretty cute, in a why im finding hard to describe,' _I mused. Trying to ignore the light dusting of red on my face proved harder than I thought.

"W-well, I guess this can be accepted, Just when you are ready to receive your item you must simply contact me and I will provide."

Nodding my understanding, I sat up, turning to her, "I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be, Let's do this."

Eris turned. Suddenly, a wide open portal began above me. Around my feet a massive rune was formed, its edges terminated into a massive circle.

'Well Hero,' Eris began, 'May you be victorious among your fellow champions and become the one to fell the Demon King! Farewell!'

I slowly began to rise. The feeling was akin to falling upward. I turned, as best as I could, and faced Eris. Shouting, "Will I see you in the world?"

The Goddess of Reincarnation looked to me and simply said, scratching her cheek as almost something was there, "You'll know when you find me out!"

And with that, I was brought to this new world.

Standing from where I could only assume was the rune that brought me down, I Instinctively turned around to get an idea of where I was.

The first thing that hit me was the smell. The second was the sober-looking man who crashed into me, stumbled, and continued on walking as if my obstruction didn't exist for him.

This all pervading smell had the stench of shit, unwashed bodies, and smoke.

'Well,' I thought to myself, 'Best be off to the Adventures Guild.'


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It wasn't long before I was truly lost within the city.

I had resorted to picking my way through crowds of people, trying to get to a general store I had spotted earlier. After much walking and much more stumbling I made it to the building. Considering the surrounding architecture, it was quite pleasant. The stores front displayed basic tools, equipment, and other utilities, but also clothing, food, and even had a section for what seemed to be basic _magic_. Granted, they were just books advertising the very basics of magic.

But it was magic and spells nonetheless.

Looking up I saw a very rudimentary sign of a coin purse and the words '_Otto's General Store and magic emporium!'_

I pushed my way through the door, entering into the store front.

On my left were cases and racks of various items, mostly farm equipment but I spotted basic adventuring tools as well. Backpacks, Ball bearings, a basket and bells along with a box of Pitons, and a crowbar as well.

Turning to the right I saw Shelves of general items, food, clothing, and the like. Looking to the back of the store I saw what would be the seller's counter, and running along there was a weapon rack.

I made my way to the back of the store, occasionally eyeing interesting pieces of equipment or magic learning books.

`I take it you're Otto?'

'Aye, what can I do for you sir?' The man, Otto, responded,

The merchant in front of me was wearing a green padded coat along with a brown set of trousers.

I thought he was looking at me, but glancing again I saw that he was looking past me, out into nowhere, eyes glazed.

The merchant was blind.

'I arrived here not to long ago, I was wondering where the adventurer's guild was,'

'I can help, sure, but you gotta tell me your name first.'

'Bayard,' I said, 'Why do you need my name?'

'To remember all the young men and women who become adventurers and don't come back.' He stopped, now staring at me, 'Not all have family, so I just do my part and help remember.' he finished with a grim look.

'I don't intend to die young, sir. Regardless, I still would like to become an adventurer. Can you point me in the right way?'

He nodded once, turned around, and shouted up the stairs, 'Oi! Moira! I got a boy down 'ere who needs directions!'

Realizing it might take a bit, I searched my pockets to see if I had any items from my world that could get appraised here. I was lucky, it seemed, because I managed to produce a good deal of yen coins from my wallet.

'While we wait, I have a few coins from travels. Can you appraise and exchange them?'

'Aye, give 'em here.'

I placed the coins on the counter. Otto scooped them up and searching, scratching, and bending them. Satisfied, he looked back at me, eyes glazed.

'They should be mostly copper and nickel coins, sir'

With that, he bent over and rummaged through his counter, producing an ornate weight scale. He then placed the coins on one side, and placed an amount of strange looking coins onto the other side. After checking and removing both, he said 'I'm not some bank teller, but I can sell these as their metals. This amount of coins should yield you, oh..' he paused for a moment, '1,500 Eris.'

He took the Eris he weighed and placed some on the counter.

'What kind of equipment can I purchase with this?'

He laughed.

'Haha! Boy, you might be able to buy a decent _lunch_ with that much. Though, I do have basic hunting knife a lad dropped off earlier. He seemed more than happy to rid himself of it and because you're asking now, I'll sell it for 500 Eris.'

I accepted the deal, and he handed me the knife and its sheath.

'_I wonder why this was so readily disposed of? It looks perfectly fine'_ I thought silently.

A woman came down not long after, looking disheveled and annoyed.

She smiled looking my way.

'Come now,' she said, walking, 'Where do 'ya need to go?'

'Adventurers guild, miss.'

She had a flash of a grim look, similar to the one Otto gave me, before returning with an even more motherly smile. Walking outside, I followed.

'Turn down there into the main street, and head to the center of town following the river. The guild is just gonna be to the right, its signpost is not easily missed.'

I walk outside, saying, 'Thanks, I'll be sure to come back once I get registered.'

'Aye, I sure hope you do.' She responded, giving me another grim look.

Damnit, what's with these people?

As I made my way through the city through what I believed was the main highway street, I began to think to myself as to why I so readily accepted Eris's offer.

Hell, I barely put any thought into it, I just answered because the prospect seemed like a more _exciting_ way of life.

I was beginning to regret not listening to her full explanation.

Adding onto that, the grim looks the merchants gave me were not reassuring either.

After walking for about 10 minutes, the road began to get wider and wider, until eventually I could only guess I was in the cultural center of this city. As I walked through, the hollars and shouts of the merchants began to get louder as they screamed out prices, extraordinary deals, and amazing stocks of items. 'Best Produce in all of Axel! Get it right here at and save 100 Eris!' 'New Sword shipments from the capital! The lands outside of Axel are dangerous some come get a Sword!' They shouted and shouted.

Seems that the street merchants of this world were not too different from the ones in mine. More usefully, however, was the Information I learned as they yelled out deals and purchases. This city was named 'Axel' and the country was a mix of a Monarchy and Imperialism, named the "Kingdom of Belzerg' as one enthuesiatic merchant shouted to me. I walked over to his stand, asking basic questions that anyone truly living here would have known. However, this man seemed to not notice or care and happily answered my questions. Shouting my thanks, I wandered off to the main road. It wasn't long before I spotted a building seemingly further down, and it looked unmistakably like a guild due to the unorthodoxly armed people in and around the building.

I heard shouts of laughter, and choruses of people talking about their hunts or their troubles.

Gathering my wits, I made way to push open the door and-

_Could this get any worse? _Kazuma thought, _No, Wait! It could get worse! Don't raise a flag!_

He stopped muttering to himself and looked at the goddess beside him.

Considering the facts, Aqua was downright the most attractive person he ever met. She had long, exuberant blue hair, paired with equally exuberant blue eyes. Ample body, Angelic voice, she was practically a dream until she opened her mou-

'KAZUMA-SAN KAZUMA-SAAAN!' she wailed.

Until she opened her mouth and began to speak.

'What is it, you useless burden?!' Kazuma shouted back, even though she was right next to him.

She looked straight at him, with angelic beauty, before scrunching up her face and crying like a toddler. 'Luna said that until I pay my previous nights tab, I can't get more wine! C-can I borrow a couple more Eris?'

'No.'

The wailing began again.

The night before, after a hard day's labor in construction, Kazuma had an epiphany about their current situation. He woke up, suddenly exasperated.

Aqua turned in the haystack, facing him, 'What's wrong? Need to go to the bathroom? I can go with you if you really nee-' she was cut off by Kazuma.

It was all wrong.

They had come here to be adventurers. But because they had no money and no equipment, the two had to resort to becoming unskilled laborers to survive.

The area around Axel had long since been cleansed of monsters, requiring no need for adventurers to go out and collect items when the townspeople could do it themselves. It was so safe that children were often seen outside playing.

This was terrible news for starting adventurers, because they couldn't find work in the beginning city. Of course, most of the reincarnated Adventurers brought their Cheat item or ability, so they could move on from the city and find work in needing places.

Kazuma's "Cheat item" was an Arch-Priest with intelligence below a human standard.

'No, I don't have to go! Can't you see how all of this is wrong? We're supposed to be adventurers and go defeat the Demon King!'

A look of realization hit Aqua's face. 'Oh, that's right! I need you to go kill that Demon King or I'll never be able to go home!'

Kazuma's voice got worked up as he yelled, causing the neighbors next to them in the barn to yell out, 'SHUT UP OVER THERE! WERE TRYING TO SLEEP!'

'Ah! Please forgive us!'

'Alright, I've had enough of this. Tomorrow we're going out go buy some basic gear and we're gonna do a quest. I don't want to be a laborer forever!'

After using the saved up money to buy a shortsword and the belt to hold it, the pair were back in the guild, sitting in at the bar. He had originally planned to go pick up an easy kill quest that'd take them not too far from here.

However, Aqua had different Ideas.

It turns out the goddess had managed to avoid paying her tab the night before. But now Luna, one of the receptionists and the one currently arguing with Aqua, had to have her due before she'd allow Aqua to order again. Seemingly fed up with Aqua, Luna left us huffing.

'Why did my life have to turn out like this?' Kazuma thought to himself.

It was then that the door to the guild opened, entering a person he'd never seen before.

-entered inside. The guild was surprisingly not as packed as I was expecting, given the amount of people outside. The guild also seemed to sport a full on bar and table's, along with more areas of eating and drinking.

Was this place an Adventurers building or a restaurant?

Probably both, now that I realized the convenience of the combination.

Shaking the thoughts away, I made my way inside and was greeted by a woman dressed like waitress and sporting short brown hair, 'Ah, welcome. Behind me is the counter to get quests and if you're here to eat you can sit down and i'll be with you shortly.'

'No thanks, I'm actually looking to get registered. Can I do that at the counter too or..'

Nodding, she turned and pointed me towards the back of the guild.

As I walked I overheard what sounded like an old couple fighting, except with one crying like a baby and one shouting cruel insults. Luckily I reached the counter before they could involve me in their arguing.

There were 3 counter staff members, all in various states of boredom.

I approached the one closest.

'Good afternoon, how may I help you?'

The counter worker, another woman dressed as a waitress sporting a long, wavy set of blonde hair, asked me with a smile.

'I'd like to become an Adventurer, miss, I just arrived here today and heard the town was the perfect spot to become one.'

'I see. Well, there is a registration fee before we begin, I trust you have enough?' She said, pointing to a small board to the side of her.

Damn, 1,000 Eris. It'd be all my money, but It seems I could start working today.

Returning her smile with one of my own, I pulled out the remainder of my Eris and handed it to her.

I tried to hide the fact that it was all my money.

'Alright, it seems like you're pretty green with this so i'll explain from the start. Adventurers are those responsible for the removal of monsters outside the town area, people who get rid of dangerous creatures that might harm the citizens or property. They're also well known jack-of-all-trade workers, taking on odd jobs that require their talents. And among the general career of Adventurers, there are different jobs that talented people invest into.' she finished with a huff.

She reached under the counter, and produced a card. Handing it to me, the lady continued, 'That card will keep track of all experience points earned, along with showing your level corresponding to the amount of experience you already have. This is to show how strong the Adventurer is, and to display how far you've advanced. The enemies you defeat will also show up here,' she pointed to a smaller section of the card, 'Simply, leveling up will grant you the skill points that you can put into skills and abilities, and for certain classes, _Magic._' Finishing with another huff, she handed me a pen and a form saying, 'Now please fill in your height and weight, along with other details in the blanks.'

I took both items, and began to fill out the requested details. _Height was 6'2", weight was 179 lbs, seventeen years old, black hair_, _blue eyes.._

Finished, I handed back the form to the counter lady.

'Done? Great! Now, please place your hand over this crystal, it'll fill out the rest of your card and I'll read you your class options.' Saying that, she brought up an object with a crystal ball in the center, surrounded by gears and dials, and other strange mechanisms I didn't recognize.

I did as she asked, placing my hand right above the ball as she placed my card under the object, what seemed to be a lens.

As the lens began to glow and write out information, my hand was being traced by the ball without even touching it.

I was more or less _stunned_ by my first encounter with this world's magic.

Once finished, the lady took the card and began to read out to me my stats.

'Bayard Norton, is it? Well, Bayard, your most of your stats are average or above average, with Faith and Strength being your strong suits.' She handed the card back to me. Most of my scores were indeed average. Strength and Agility showed higher numbers, in the 60's, while almost everything else showed numbers in the 50's.

Except for my faith score.

This section showed a bright 90.

I didn't understand. I had never been a faithful man in my previous life, Infact I would consider myself mostly non-religious.

Noticing my confusion, the lady answered in a similarly confused tone, 'While higher than average faith scores are not uncommon, the combination of such a score _and_ average stats are.'

When she stopped, I began to notice that the arguing couple had gone quiet, and felt a bright pair of eyes on my back.

'I just don't understand, I have never been that much of a faithful man in my life.'

'Who knows? Maybe it's a different kind of fate that was recorded? Regardless, your jobs are as follows: Priest, one focused in the use of magic and in your case, faith based magic.' She continued, 'There's also the paladin, a mix of both a cleric and a fighter, one who can call upon their deity to perform magic and also be a valued melee user.' She continued, listing off a few more jobs that didn't capture my attention as much as the first two.

'Put me down for a Paladin, please.'

She nodded once, 'Ok, now that you are reg-' She was suddenly cut off by a woman who approached from behind me.

'Aha! A Paladin, Hm? Well, let me introduce myself as Aqua, the goddess of the Axis sect and the deity of Water! Now, if you would please become a follower of the Axis se-AH!'

I was stunned.

The woman who approached me, Aqua, was one that would fit the description of a _Goddess_.

I was also stunned by the man who followed her and smacked her square in the head.

'Stupid goddess! What did I say about running around and screaming that you're a deity to every person of faith! Ah, I'm sorry for her behavior. Please forgive us.'


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As Kazuma was muttering to himself, the door to the guild opened, entering in a man he had never seen before. The man certainly wasn't Japanese. He dressed oddly, in that it was similar to the clothing _he_ wore, back in Japan. Could this newcomer be from his world? Could he possibly be new and looking for a party?

Kazuma began to stand up, but Aqua noticed and immediately dragged him back into her sobbing.

'Shhh, Aqua, shhh! You might scare away that new guy, and he looks to be from my world!'

This did shut Aqua up.

Now that she was no longer wailing in his ear, Kazuma began to notice the outfit of the man. He was dressed in a Bright Yellow Jacket, with subtle wear and tear showing its age. _Was he a NEET like me? But he doesn't seem to carry himself like one.._

Shaking away his thoughts, Kazuma turned to Aqua, 'Hey, does your reincarnation deal cover the west too?'

'Not normally, we typically only cover the East because the West is more secular in their beliefs. Someone from there would have to die in Japan and fit the requirements to get caught in our net of reincarnation.'

He turned back the man, now talking to Luna about registration. A bright yellow jacket, Black jeans, Sports shoes, ...and a sheathed knife? He was practically in the same equipment conditions as Kazuma was!

'That's it, after he gets registered I'm gonna ask him to join our party, got it?'

Aqua nodded, also staring at the newcomer.

It wasn't long before he was almost done with becoming an Adventurer. As Kazuma made to get up and talk to the man, he noticed that Aqua was alarmingly not present. Searching around like a parent looking for their missing delinquent child, He found her walking _straight _towards the newcomer, yelling about how she was the Goddess of the Axis sect.

Luckily he reached her before she could damage their image too much.

After smacking her head, Kazuma bowed deeply, apologizing to the man.

Wait a minute.

Aqua? And a man around my age?

Aren't these two the previous reincarnates?

Bowing myself, I responding to the distressingly humble Kazuma.

'My apologies, I'm sorry I wasn't expecting to be in the company of the goddess Aqua and.. I take it to be Kazuma?'

Kazuma nodded once, seemingly sure of himself until the fact I both called him by his name despite never meeting before _and_ that I was calling the woman beside him a goddess without question.

'W-Wait. How do you know who we are?'

Sitting down with the two, I explained my situation and as to how I already recognized them.

Aqua seemed to have gotten over her wailing fairly quickly, even more so when I mentioned the goddess Eris.

'WHAT?!' She screamed into my face, 'My Subordinate is taking over?'

'She already has. According to her, I've been the first reincarnate to accept the deal and be transported here. All others have rejected the proposition and opted to be sent back to the original world.' Once again, I regret not listening to her full proposal and instead acting on a whim.

'By the way, what did you tell reincarnates before you sent them down here?'

This seemed to catch Kazuma's attention, who was nursing a small mug of ale he ordered before I arrived .

Aqua returned both of our looks with a dejected look in her eyes and began explaining, 'I.. may.. have left out… a _few_ details.. Kazuma-san.'

It took a few minutes to remove his stone-hard hands from her throat while he screamed about 'Choosing a useless item who lied to him.'

After calming down, he then turned to me, asking 'So what item did you choose, Bayard?'

'Nothing. I had wanted to see what this world was before I chose my "cheat item.", So far I'm not regretting that decision.'

He rolled his eyes at that last part.

'Either way,' He began, 'We're all out of money. In fact we came here just to grab a quest until Aqua caused all that trouble with you and Luna.'

'_Ah, the counter lady's name was Luna. That'd be good to remember,' _I thought to myself.

Rising from the chair, I said to Kazuma, 'You two go find us a quest, I gotta go get finished being registered.'

Understanding, The pair walked to the board while I went back to Luna.

'Sorry 'bout that, we got it all sorted out now. I'm ready to finish this.' I tried to flash a smile again.

I tried to.

'R-right.. Well, all that's left for you to do is just to choose your patron deity and your starting abilities. After that, you'll be set to go!'

She then began to explain the deity options, what each one does and such. It turns out, while Goddess like Eris and Aqua were sentient _Gods_, in the traditional sense; these deity's were not. Deity's were the general representation to paths or sects of the Gods, each representing a lifestyle or way of life.

I chose the '_Templar's Champion'_.

'The champion, hm? I should've expected from someone with such high faith!' Luna exclaimed.

\What did faith had to with this?

I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider all the options. I'd also be lying if I said that I didn't choose this deity because _it sounded cool._

Unfortunately I'm terrible about lying to myself.

Once I chose my deity, Luna moved onto explaining my class abilities: things such as _Smite _and _lay on hands_ were spells given to me just by choosing Paladin. _Smite _was a basic faith based spell that I could cast on a weapon or a being; specialized in harming undead. _Lay on hands_ was also a faith based spell, focused on allowed the Paladin class to heal wounds and cure minor diseases. She further explained general skills of trade, paths such as Smithing and Crafting were available to all classes, while more specific paths were bound to a specific class.

'One exception is the Adventurer class. Being the jack-of-all-trades in the most literal sense, the Adventurer class is able to learn all skills and abilities; Albeit at a higher cost of points and weaker output in turn. Infact, I think your friend Kazuma is of the Adventurer class if I remember correctly..' Luna put on a sad smile.

'_Jeez! What's with these people?' _Shaking my thoughts away, I nodded for her to continue.

With everything filled out, she instructed me to touch the card to finish the process.

Wearing a mask of hidden stoicism, I did as she said and began my journey as a Paladin.

'_This is stupid! Why does everything have to be so ridiculous in this world?' _Kazuma thought, as he ran for his life from a giant frog.

Not more than 15 minutes ago, he had chosen what seemed to be an easy kill quest back at the guild board.

Eliminate 5 giant frogs in the outskirts of town, with a high bounty of Eris.

_It should be easy enough, how difficult can some frog's be? _He thought, taking the bounty.

'Save me, Aqua-Sama! Save me- AH!'

'Oh man, this is hilarious! Kazuma, your face is all red and teary from a frog!'

_If I get out of this, we're definitely gonna humiliate her back home!_

Behind the frog chasing Kazuma, Bayard shouted, 'Stop running so fast! I can't catch up!'

They had no original plan when facing the frogs, but one quickly formed out of desperation as more and more appeared.

Kazuma was chosen unwillingly to be bait while Bayard would chase the frog down and kill it. It was a decent plan in their few moments of thinking, but due to Kazuma running like a headless chicken with the frog on his tail, Bayard couldn't catch up and attack with just his knife.

All the while Aqua had done nothing.

'_This seriously sucks!' _Kazuma shouted to himself.

'I suppose I could help you out. But only If you start worshipping me as Aqua, the great Goddess of the Axis sect!'

The pouncing frog suddenly stopped its pursuit.

'Once we get back to town, join the Axis sect and pray to me 3 times a day. Oh! And if I ask for your meal at dinner, you won't give resistance! And-'

The great Goddess Aqua didn't finish her sentence. Partly due to the frog now beginning to swallow her.

'Eh?!' Bayard and Kazuma shouted, suddenly noticing that their party member was occupied with being swallowed by a frog.

We were both stunned.

'Don't get eaten!' Kazuma shouted, at the currently being consumed Aqua.

Now that he wasn't running for his life, I overtook him in reaching the imobile frog.

Raising my knife high, I lunged forward, piercing the tough, fatty skin of the frog. Kazuma was right behind me, and with his sword drawn he did the same, piercing the skin with an audible gag.

This continued for another minute, as we circled around the frog attacking and trying to kill the damn thing.

The frog remained occupied with digesting our Goddess the entire time, luckily staying immoble as we slashed and tore through its body. Eventually, with a stab at the beasts brain, putting all my strength into piercing its skull, the frog died.

Lying splayed flat on the ground, we dug the sobbing Aqua out of its mouth. All of us were panting hard, with Aqua mumbling about how filthy she was.

_This thing stank!_

'I can't go into town looking like this! How would my faithful Axis supporters react to their Goddess being sullied by a frog?'

I shrugged at her, as Kazuma picked up his sword, 'You know, I don't think the Axis will really care with their current disposition in Axel..'

This infuriated our slime covered Aqua.

She rose and began sprinting to the nearest creature, an absolutely enormous red frog.

Fist glowing with what I could only assume to be her goddess powers, she howled, 'Feel the power of the gods! Regret that you ever stood in my path, and repent in the deepest pits of hell! God Blow!'

Her hand cascading with light and fury, she lunged forward and struck at the frog's fatty chest.

It rippled once, then twice, and stopped.

'Hehe, now that I have a good look at you, you frogs are pretty cute!'

Then the damn thing ate her.

After running towards the immobile frog and repeating the process of ripping and tearing it apart, we finally pulled Aqua out of the creatures mouth. Swallowed a second time, she was even more covered in its slime and spittle.

'I think we're done here..' I told the pair.

'A-agreed…'

Once we got back into town and collectively shooed Aqua off to the bathhouse, Kazuma and I got back to the guild and showed Luna the 2 frogs we killed on our cards.

Because each frog was only worth 5,000 Eris each, we collectively earned 10,000 Eris that day.

According to Kazuma, frog meat was highly sought after due to its light and refreshing qualities. After taking a bite of the frog leg in front of me, I could see why.

A few minutes after we began eating, Aqua showed up. Sitting down next to me, I felt just how naturally _attractive_ she was. Not only had she the same offhand aura that I felt on Eris, she was downright beautiful. Frankly, I was captivated until she began to Sp-

'Ah!' she said, gasping after taking a long swig of ale. Stifling a burp, she turned to Kazuma, 'So, when are you gonna join the Axis sect and begin your long due worship of me?'

Kazuma slammed his hands on the table. 'Worship?! You're a burden! All you did today was get eaten by frogs while we did the work!'

'Ehh?! Hey! What about you?' She said, turning to me, 'You're a Paladin, right? Worship me, worship me! You even recognized that I'm a goddess!'

'I just became a Paladin today! I don't even worship a god yet. Besides, I don't think anyone is gonna worship a goddess with a face covered in frog meat grease.' I tossed her a napkin.

In truth there was nothing on her, but she vehemently wiped at her mouth as if it was the most important thing in the world to her. Quietly fistbumpbing Kazuma across the table, I continued, 'Regardless, we need more party members. There's a recruiting board by the quest board, right?'

'Mhm, and with a Paladin and an Arch-Priest on the advertisement we should get someone easily.'

Aqua, once she was done wiping at nothing, pitched in her piece, 'Oh yea! Most parties would kill for an Arch-priest, let alone one paired with a Paladin and Adventurer.'

Nodding, I began to tear into my meal again. 'Once we're done eating, I'll let y'all make the recruitment offer while I go try to find my accommodations for the night.'

As I left the table to check out the farmhouse Aqua recommended me, as it was the one housing the pair themselves, I heard the two whisper faintly. '_Did you hear what he said? "Y'all"! I can't believe it!' _

I smiled to myself as I left the guild.

I closed the door to my "Accomodation", and looked at the pitifully few items and bedding there was. It was just a haystack big enough for someone to sleep on, a rack across the room to hang your clothes, and a small empty box next to the door.

'_This is the dream fantasy life, Hmm, Bayard? Sleeping on a pile of hay, killing frogs for a living, having to do my business outside in a pit.' _

I could see why the duo were so adamant about doing such a basic quest. Doing construction all day and sleeping here would probably drive any man to depression if he had adventuring goals in mind, and these two wanted to slay a Demon King!

Though I did the same goal as them.

Regardless, I settled in for the night and took out my adventuring card, noticing that it had shone a bright 2 in the middle. Killing the frog apparently had enough exp. to raise me a single level. Tapping the number, it then showed me a couple of skills with their related cost in skill points next to them. Scrolling through, I decided on the passive ability called _Morale Aura._

Its description was brief, but essentially it acted as a passive ability to where anyone in my area would act braver, fight harder, and break less easily. Right now it had a measly area of affect, and the effect itself was only slightly noticeable, but I recognized the powerful possibilities it gave to the party who used it.

Putting my card away, I then took out my knife. I was curious as to why the man was so intent on selling what seemed to be a perfectly fine hunting knife.

The damn thing burst into blue flames in my hands.

Being careful as to not drop the flaming blade onto the dry floor, I carefully grabbed the sheath and slammed the knife back into its cover. Releasing a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, I carefully drew the knife once more. This time it had jagged, saw blade-like teeth. Repeating the process again produced just the hilt and no blade.

Ah.

This knife changes every time its drawn!

The man before probably had bad luck with drawing it, seeing as it can even come out without a blade.

Putting the changing weapon away, I finally made ready for bed. After a long day of dying, meeting a party, and butchering frogs, I was ready for sleep.

And for once in my life it came at a relative ease.

'Nobody is coming.'

_After our dinner last night, we designed our recruitment offer. Aqua had insisted on writing out fake reviews of our party, and I allowed it to a small extent. _

_What a mistake!_

'_I've been happy everyday since I joined this party. It even helped with my financial problems!' 'I got over my illness and have since become successful all thanks to the beautiful goddess Aqua!'_

_Such blatant lies!_

_Luckily, Bayard wasn't entirely surprised or upset about how she defiled our advertisement. The guy just sighed and muttered something about 'Making it work.'_

Kazuma looked up from the table and tried to listen in on Bayard and Aqua's discussion. It seems that they were in a heated debate over the proper values and morals someone of religion should hold. Aqua was heatedly trying to convince him, as a Paladin, to listen to his patron goddess and accept the Axis views. Bayard shot back that he was barely religious at all and that he hadn't even chosen is patron god.

_They argue kinda like siblings. _

Kazuma was sure to bring that up to them the next time they argued like that. It was then that Bayard suddenly stopped his speech and whipped around to look behind Kazuma.

'I happened to notice your recruitment poster.'

Kazuma whipped around, as did Aqua, to see who they were talking to.

'That we would meet is a fate chosen by the world itself. I have anxiously awaited the arrival of those such as yourselves.' Saying that, the girl sprung her hand up and 3 of her fingers splayed out, half covering her face.

'My name is Megumin! My calling is that of an Arch-Wizard, one who controls explosion magic, the strongest of all offensive magic!'

_This girl is and absolute chuunibyou!_

I was not expecting much traffic to come from our recruitment poster. Aqua limiting hiring to only those of advanced classes saw to that.

Regardless, I was caught off guard by the person who approached us. She looked to be no older than 15, and was wearing a wide brimmed wizard's hat and bright red shirt, along with a staff carrying a blue orb.

Her eye shone a bright red.

This girl, Megumin, continued on about how she was an Arch-Wizard, and a user of explosion magic.

'Um..' Kazuma sputtered out.

_Explosion magic, huh? This could prove useful.._

Noticing my interest, asked me directly, 'Do you, too, desire my forbidden strength, which is so almighty, I've been ostracized by the entire world?'

Stepping further into the light, I saw that she was wearing fingerless gloves, choker, and a red eyepatch covering her left eye.

'Huh?' was I muttered out before she began talking to us again.

'Then show me thine resolve to peer into the ultimate abyss with me! When man stares into the abyss, the abyss stares back..'

'Are you here for the recruitment or are you just here to make fun of us, Arch-Wizard?'

'N-No!' Megumin responded, suddenly caught off guard.

Aqua spoke up, suddenly noticing something. 'That red eye.. Are you a crimson demon?'

Megumin seemed to regain her resolve, and said, 'Indeed! I am Megumin, user of the finest magic crimson demons possess! I hold magic that can sunder mountains, smash boulders..' suddenly the once brimming with energy crimson demon fell to the ground.

We all stood up, Kazuma reaching her first. 'Hey, what's wrong?!'

The fallen user of powerful explosion magic explained that she hasn't eaten anything in 3 days.

Handing her a menu, I said, 'You can order what you like, just don't go crazy; Money's a bit tight for us.'

Taking the menu, she rose again, albeit weakly. Kazuma asked her about her eyepatch. She began her previous tone, saying that she if she were to ever take it off, a great catastrophe would befall the world.

'So.. it's like a seal?'

'Well, that was a lie. I just wear it for looks.'

Faster than I thought possible for the man who was a NEET, Kazuma grabbed her eyepatch as she struggled and yelled apologies. Aqua started explaining to the man holding the poor girl's eyepatch about crimson demons, about how they were extremely talented magic users and often became great magicians.. And that they also had weird names. I mostly didn't pay attention as I thought to myself about the possibilities of Megumin's supposed powerful explosion magic. Just as I was about to ask her, he let go of the eyepatch once Aqua was done with her explanation.

With a great whip and a yelp of pain, he turned back to her. 'Ah sorry. I thought you were just making fun of us, what with your weird name 'n all.'

Just as she was about to retort, I looked up from the table and asked her, 'So just how powerful is this explosion magic you wield?'.

It took us 5 minutes to get her to calm down and sit to order her meal.

The girl must've truly been starving because she ordered what seemed to be a full course meal, acting protective over it from us even though I paid.

While she ate, the 3 of us inspected her adventurer's card.

'Adventurer cards can't be forged. She's an Arch-Wizard for sure.' Aqua said.

I nearly choked on my drink as I saw her Intelligence and Magic stats. She was relatively low leveled, only at 5, but her stats more than made up for it. We never saw her sole spell slot and its cost before she took the card back.

I would soon come to regret that.

We were back in the fields to complete the rest of our quest. There were alarmingly more frogs hopping around than before, but we were far away enough to where we didn't have to worry. Curious about Megumin's explosive capabilities, I was about to ask her to fire away when an idea struck me. Calling Kazuma over, I told him my simple idea.

He flashed a mischievous grin and nodded.

'Oi, Aqua! Aren't you supposed to be a former powerful goddess? How come those frogs can easily take those hits, hm?'

'What did you say to me? I am a goddess, present tense!'

Megumin perked up. 'Goddess?'

'She just calls herself a goddess because of her high class. Its kinda sad actually, but don't pay it any mind.' I said to the Wizard.

'How sad..'

Aqua stepped back, tears in her eyes, before steeling herself and shouting, 'Those frogs might be resistant to my attacks, but this time for sure!'

Bolting, she ran towards one of the approaching creatures. Distantly yelling something about _Requiem Blow, _our party member once again ran up and slammed her fist into its belly.

Once again, it did nothing more than kill our hopes.

This time however, she seemed to back and run away before it could snatch her. Another frog noticed the pursuit and joined in, the two frogs pouncing after our screeching goddess.

I walked up to megumin and tapped her shoulder. 'There's your targets. Try not to hit our priest please..'

The Arch-Wizard seemed to visibly vibrate from excitement, and with a toothy smile she turned back and faced the field. Particles began to gather around her staff as wards of light and strange text surrounded her and the ground. The sky began to darken as if the light was being sucked out of the air itself. Then she started her incantation.

'Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark, I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson. The time of awakening cometh. Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary, appear now as an intangible distortion! Dance, dance, dance! I desire for my torrent of power a destructive force: a force without equal! Return all creation to cinders, and come from the abyss! This is the mightiest means of attack known to man, the ultimate attack magic!' She paused, for dramatic affect or for the spell I do not know.

But it seemed as if all the noise was suddenly gone, and the plains were eerily quiet as the wards and rings of light were above the frogs too.

'Explosion!'

When we humans talk of power, whether it be of the corporeal or intangible, it is usually represented as something in our control. When we first developed nuclear weapons, humanity now had a tool that could end countries, not cities, in seconds.

I will forever remember one of the Scientists quotes after witnessing the first detonation of the bomb. "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."

For that was my first thought as I witnessed this young girl cast an explosion as if it were shot straight from the sky. The reaction was instant, the frogs pursuing Aqua had remained still as they observed the rings of light above them. They, along with about 50 meters of ground in every direction, were blown apart. Luckily our resident priest had ran like hell and got to safety, screaming obscenities due to the explosive change in the atmosphere.

I began walking to megumin. 'What the fu-' she abruptly collapsed to the ground.

Other frogs began to pop up in the area, probably due to the tremors in the ground.

Face in the ground, she explained to the slack-jawed Kazuma and I about how because the spell is so mana instenive, it over draws from her already massive reserves and causes her to collapse. 'In short,' She said, 'I used magic exceeding my limits, and now cannot move a muscle.'

More frogs began to emerge from the ground, alarmingly close to the collapsed Wizard and shaken goddess. Kazuma turned to me, yelling, 'You go get Aqua, I'll get megumin before she-Ah!'

The frog had beaten him to reaching our fallen Arch-Wizard.

Drawing my knife, hoping that I wouldn't be unlucky in this situation, I ran to Aqua as she was getting swallowed as well. I struck gold, however, as the blade grew from a simple hunting knife into a short sword the size and design of a gladius. I lunged forward, driving the sword deep into the tough meet of the frog, before repeating the process from before of hacking apart the imobile frogs body.

We successfully retrieved our comrades and completed our quest. Because we killed one extra frog than needed, the guild would have required us to pay extra if we wanted to have it delivered. I opted to just leave the thing because I didn't know any cooking skills, so the ingredients I could have gathered wouldn't be useful. I was raised to level 3 after checking my card on the return trip, while megumin was only raised to level 6 due to being an already higher level.

'_God, these two stink_', I thought as Kazuma carried megumin and I helped along the weeping Aqua. The pair next to me were talking when Kazuma suddenly stopped and told the Arch-Wizard that explosion magic was now banned unless in emergencies.

'Just do your best with your other magic from now on.'

'I can't.'

Aqua and I stopped as well. 'What do you mean you can't?' I asked her.

'I can only use explosion magic. I can't and won't use any other type of magic.'

'Well I wish you luck on you future journeys! Once we get back to the guild we'll split the reward and go our se-' she grappled on to him, 'My only desire is to use explosion magic. I can go without being paid even. Yes, an Arch-Wizard's power could be yours, if you just make a contract..' He threw back on of her arms, and angrily retorted. 'No! S-such mighty power shouldn't be wasted on novice adventurers like us.'

This guy was about to throw away a free, overpowered, once a day nuke.

I joined in on their desperate argument. 'You seriously want to get rid of a Arch-Wizard? We're novices, let her stay and do her explosion magic.'

Eyes glowing like gemstones, megumin threw herself back onto his shoulders. 'Its fine, even if you are puny or newbies! I have an advanced job but im only level 6, so I'm already at about your level.' They continued back and forth while Aqua and I watched wordlessly, until Kazuma grabbed her arm, shouting, 'You got dumped by a previous party, didn't you?! L-Let go!' He started shaking around, trying to rid himself of the iron gripped Megumin. 'Besides, if we go indoors, you won't be able to cast that explosion without killing us!'

'No other parties will take me anymore! I'll carry your stuff, or do anything you need! I'm begging you! Please don't abandon me!'

The distressing things megumin were shouting began to worry me if other's overhead, so I approached the two again, pleading her to keep quiet.

Megumin had the opposite idea, dawning a terrifying glint in her eyes as she began wailing and pulling even more, shouting, 'I'll do any erotic acts you like! Please just don't leave me on the streets to starve!'

Seeing the gatherings of muttering people, we both whipped around and shouted 'We're glad to have you on the team!'

Removing the two filthy party members to the bathhouses, Kazuma and I once again returned to the guild, this time finished with our quest.

'I've confirmed that you have completed your quest.' Luna said, handing each of our cards back to us, 'Thank you for your hard work.'

Eyeing his card, I saw that Kazuma was raised to Level 3 as well.

Luna turned to the side and pulled out a tray stacked with Eris coins. 'Now then, adding up the sale of the frog bodies and your quest reward, your total comes to 110,000 Eris.' She smiled, 'Please verify the amount.'

We both returned to some seats in the eating area, discussing how we split the pay. '110,000 split between 4 people comes out to.. 27,500 Eris each. My cut would then be deducted further from Megumin's meal today, but regardless, we made good money.'

Kazuma looked absolutely dejected, muttering 'We nearly lost our lives for just 27,500 Eris.. It's not worth it.'

We also had checked the other quests, and each one proved more and more costing and dangerous.

It was going to be a hard life indeed if we were to survive on quests giving this little Eris.

I heard the clinking of plate armor and a familiar sense I had felt earlier today. Looking up, I saw a woman approach us.

'I happened to see your recruitment poster. Are you still recruiting party members?'

She was wearing a slightly darker shade of yellow compared to me, but over the clothing was an extraordinary set of armor. A pauldron on one arm matched by an ornament of feathers on the other, along with plates covering all vital parts of the body.

I turned to my friend, and saw that his nose was flared open and that he wore a bright blush. _Ah, So that's your type, hm?_

'Um.. We are! Though, I wouldn't really recommend it…'

Stood before us was a drop dead beautiful female knight. Rising, I saw that she was just barely shorter than me.

'I see. Thank goodness.'

'My name is Bayard, and this is Kazuma. Pleasure to meet you, your name is?'

She let out a huff, one that sounded oddly erotic.

'My name is Darkness. My calling is that of a crusader.' She continued huffing, wearing a light dusting of red on her face.

Stealing a glance at Kazuma, I saw that he was equally confused as I.

'Please let… Please let me... J-J-Join your party!'


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry this one took a bit, I had to rewrite and do multiple major edits as it grew. Regardless, Enjoy this more combat based Chapter!**

Her words rang out, repeating, in both their heads.

_Why was she now stuttering when she held herself so confidently earlier?_

_Why is she now panting and beet red?_

_Why is she also a few inches from our faces?_

'Um..' Kazuma mumbled out, as she grabbed both of our hands.

'Those two slimy, filthy, ladies earlier were allies of yours, correct? What in the world did that to them?'

It was my turn to speak, 'They were swallowed by giant frogs, and we had to carve-' 'What?!.. It's worse than I imagined.'

There was something off about this crusader. Visually, she was stunningly attractive. But her way of speech and how interested she was in what happened to their party members was off putting. Trying and failing to remove her steel gripped hand, I asked her how long she had been watching us. 'J-Just the past afternoon or so..'

Damnit, so she saw that exchange between Megumin and Kazuma?!

'No, wait! As a knight, I cannot overlook such trauma befalling those two girls of such tender age!' She was staring straight into the eyes of Kazuma and I, setting off almost every danger radar I didn't realize I possessed.

'No, I'd rather advise not joining,' I began, 'One of our party members has yet to prove their worth, another can only cast their one spell once a day, Kazuma here,' I pointed to my friend whose face was dangerously close to Darkness's learned over chest, 'Is just a basic Adventurer, and I'm a beginner Paladin. Our party isn't the best, so you'd probably best look somewhere-' she started applying pressure to my hand, almost crushing it.

I put everything into stopping my grunt of pain, so I rather abruptly stopped speaking while she began.

'That's even better!' She finally let go of us and stood fully, continuing. 'Honestly, this is a bit hard for me to admit, but although I have full confidence in my strength and vitality, I am more than clumsy with a weapon.. So, um.. _None of my attacks ever hit their mark.'_

I turned to Kazuma, and he turned to me with a look of worry and confusion, still wearing a light dusting of red on his face. I returned with a fake smile and faced Darkness again, still softly panting and moaning to herself

There is something definitely wrong with this crusader.

'A-As such.. I'll charge into the front line, so please use me as a shield!' She leaned forward again, almost touching my face with her own.

'_She is too close!' _I put my arms on her and moved her back, just enough to give me breathing room. Kazuma looked to the table, and spoke in a serious tone. 'No. I could never use a woman as a shield.'

'I-It would be my pleasure to be one!'

'Besides,' I said, picking up where he left off, 'we seem to get half eaten by monsters almost every battle.'

'It would be even more of my pleasure!'

Damn. This crusader was completely hopeless. Stealing a look at Kazuma, it seemed he shared my thoughts.

'Well how about this, we had a bit too much to drink tonight so I think it's best that we head home now.' Kazuma made to leave the bench and just barely hid his run to the door. Leaving me in the dust, I sighed and turned back to the crusader.

'Mind for a round or two?' I asked, already breaking open the menu.

'Sure.' She responded, sitting down and grabbing a menu as well.

The first round was just a mug each of the guild's ale.

Slamming the mug down after nearly draining it, I faced her and asked a question that was burning in my mind.

'Can I see your sword?'

Nodding, she unbuckled the sheathed blade and handed it to me. Taking great care with the weapon, I grasped the handle, and drew the sword. I noticed the incredible amount of care that went into the Longsword, the blade had a polished shine and engravings, along with the crossguard and hilt also bearing the remarkable style. Though I didn't see any family crests or coat-of-arms as I inspected it, the blade practically shone with the pride of a households Sword.

It was Darkness's turn to question me. She raised her mug once, twice, and faced me. 'So what's your full name?'

'Bayard Norton, yours?' I answered, not looking up from my inspection.

'It's Darkness. Just Darkness'

'Awfully odd for someone without a family name to carry such an elegant weapon.' I said, sheathing and returning her sword.

She grasped the side I handed to her, but didn't take it.

'Awfully odd for someone like you to just show up one day,wearing those odd clothes.' She took the sword, and shot her finger at my face. 'You even look a bit different!' Her tone playfully hostile.

I took another sip, and pointed at her. 'You look so green I'm finding it hard to believe that you're a Crusader_._'

She gave me a horribly over dramatic gasp. It was straining to not break into drunken laughter over our jests.

'You still never told me where you're from, Bayard.'

I took a moment to think, and answered in my second mug, this time a sweeter mead.

'I come from a smaller village far out west, It's called Nonye.'

'Nonya?'

'Nonyabusiness.'

I put everything into stifling my drunken laughter. It wasn't enough.

First breaking through was a grin, then a toothy smile. When I saw that she was suffering the same ordeal, the proverbial dam broke loose. We enjoyed the heart, song, and fire of the nightly tavern crowds around us, laughing wholeheartedly

It took us an hour or so to break off from the dancing and the music and the drink. I was absolutely drained from the days work, so I shouted at Darkness as I made for the door.

'I expect that I'll see you tomorrow then, Crusader?'

'I'll be here, waiting, Templar.'

Truthfully, I had not been expecting to be in such good company with Darkness, after her first impression.

I was luckily proven wrong.

Content with the day, I finally turned in at the barn house and slept a dreamless sleep.

'_Nature's beauty! Nature's beauty! Nature's beauty!'_

Kazuma sighed as he looked up from his plate and eyed the guild again. Upstairs was Aqua, showing off her simple party tricks much to the delight and awe of the guild occupants. She had attracted almost all of the adventurers there, leaving most of the guild empty. Looking down, he spotted Bayard by the quest board, searching for the day's work.

Kazuma and Megumin had gone back and forth about how to use skill points, with Megumin answering almost every question to the inquiring Kazuma.

'So, If I have you teach me, I could actually learn explosion magic too?'

'_Ah. I probably made a mistake.' _Kazuma thought. The explosion connoisseur bore down on him, shouting chuunibyou phrases and promises of using her destructive power. Pushing megumin away from his face and calling her "A little girl" seemed to prove the trick for Kazuma, as she then sat back dejectedly poking her food, muttering about what he just called her.

'I've been looking for you.'

'_Oh no..' _He thought. Kazuma turned around to face her, his fears coming true.

Darkness began to approach. 'You said that you had drank too much that night, and headed straight home, correct?' Sitting down in the stool next to him, she faced and asked, 'Shall we continue where we left off last ni-'

'I refuse.'

Darkness let out a strangely erotic gasp, as she sputtered out here response.

'S-S-Such a snap decision!'

Grinning madly and blushing hard, the Crusader began her panting again.

'_Don't tell me she enjoyed that!'_ Kazuma screamed at himself.

'_You've got to be kidding me.'_ I said to myself, viewing the quest board.

We seemed to have missed the prime time to grab the easier, lower leveled bounties that parties would arrive early just for.

Viewing the remaining quests, I was disheartened at the sight of the ridiculous requirements and parameters.

'Please hunt down and kill the One-Shot bear roaming the northern forests. Bounty: 2,000,000 Eris.'

'Explore a recently rediscovered cave system possibly harboring Manticores. Adventurer, Thief, or Ranger class required. Bounty: 500,000 Eris'

I peeled back more and more of the quests, Finally reaching the back where the oldest and most dangerous were kept.

There, I found one that could be done and still pay enough for the day.

'Please go and cleanse our decrepit old church and basement harboring undead spirits. Required Faith based magic users. Bounty: 400,000 Eris.'

Taking the quest, I made my way back to the sitting duo, spotting Darkness and a lightly clothed rogue woman harassing Kazuma.

The woman spoke up, 'Tsk tsk, that won't do, Darkness. You can't be so pushy!'

Kazuma turned to face the unknown newcomer. 'U-Um, and you are?'

Hand making the thumbs up sign, she responded to the adventurer, 'I'm Chris, a thief, as you can see. Darkness is somewhat of my friend and I came to help her find a party today.' Just as she finished, I arrived, handing the quest to Kazuma.

'Should be easy enough for all of us, unless you got more business to do here I'd say we leave as soon as possible.' Turning around to face the other two, I leaned on the bar and introduced myself. We conversed in small talk for a while, watching as more and more adventurers made their way to witness Aqua's tricks. Darkness seemed more energetic than before, blushing the entire time as we all conversed.

Chris, however, was different. Nothing put me off with what she said or did, but I felt a strange presence each time I talked to her.

She also began to scratch her cheek each time she was unsure of herself.

It soon became apparent that Kazuma was intent on learning a thief skill. The 3 left not long after to go practice, with megumin staying behind because she didn't seem too keen on accompanying me on a quest where she couldn't use her magic. I spotted Aqua as I was leaving the guild, and I considered bringing her along.

That was until I saw that she had a plant on her head and was doing non-stop party tricks for the growing crowd.

In retrospect, I really should have brought along for what I was about to face, but I was a long way from town before I could truly regret my decision.

I made my way through the busy streets of Axel, heading for a certain general store I needed to check up at. Spotting the wooden sign, I entered Otto's store. Unlike my previous visit, there were a few customers this time. Most were just townsfolk doing their shopping, but Otto stood at his counter, eyes glazed, staring directly at me. With a curt nod, I approached the merchant. After a brief conversation I told him about how I registered as an adventurer and what I was looking for today.

'A Chainmail shirt and your basic dungeoneer's pack.'

He stared at me with a grim look I was all to familiar with by now, before shaking his head, flashing me a half smile. He walked over to the weapons rack, prodding with a cane that he produced from under the counter. Stopping before a section, he felt his hand around some of the hilts, before pulling a scabbard and sword out. Walking back to the counter, he placed the sword down along with the other items I requested.

'This weapon served me for 20 years as a soldier in the Kingdoms army. This weapon served me the 10 years I was an adventurer. I like you, boy. Now, it will serve you in your cleansing of the defiled. Try not to break it.'

I tried to hide my shock and appreciation. I failed.

The weapon was an arming sword, longer than a shortsword by a couple inches, but its hilt only fit one hand. The standardized weapon of the Kingdoms swordsmen, It also found its place in the hands of adventurers.

Moira came to us not long after, and she helped the blind merchant with the transaction.

'That'll be 26,000 Eris, Bayard.' She said. I took the items, gave her all my Eris, and went into one of the back rooms to equip the gear.

With the chain mail and pack, I finally began to look like a true adventurer, much to my satisfaction. Once back outside, I headed for the main gates to get to the hamlet described in the quest.

The hamlet village was only a few minutes walk from Axel into the forest.

It didn't even have its own name.

After traveling for about 20 minutes, the road began to clear up and I finally saw the small village itself. It was comprised of only 5 houses, a smaller house for boarding travelers, and a couple smaller farming buildings further out into the clearing where the hamlet was built. Forest surrounded us, and the only area free of foliage I saw was the few acres of land they used to substantiate on.

Walking out into the center of the hamlet, I saw a few of the male residents by a fire, communing and praying to a small statue of Eris.

Approaching them, I muttered a small prayer to Eris out of instinct.

Before this, I had never once heard or seen that prayer in my life.

Quickly putting on a look of stoicism to hide my shock, I walked up to what I assumed to be the village elder, and introduced myself.

'Morning Gentlemen, I am Bayard, A Paladin of Eris. I have come to cleanse the desecrated church.'

I prayed that Eris would forgive me for using her name without actually devoting myself to her.

The village elder, one who looked every one of his years, shakily stood up.

A few of the nearby villagers stood to help him, but he lightly shrugged them off.

He said in a voice barely above a whisper a single phrase to me that day.

'Hell..spawns things there,' He took a ragged breath, '..creatures of nightmares.'

The villagers rushed to help him sit back down.

He looked terribly spent from just speaking to me.

One of the farming boys turned and talked to me, explaining how they had posted the notice around a month ago when they saw strange… '_Aberrations' _coming from the church. Since then, multiple livestock had disappeared without a trace. A week ago a small family had disappeared too, but with signs of a struggle evident at their broken into home.

Today, every female villager was gone. When I arrived, they were praying to Eris for help and guidance. And, damning my luck, the remaining villagers saw me as a sign of the goddess giving her answer.

I was to be a savior to these damned and lost men, despite becoming an adventurer only 3 days ago.

The church was a short walk up a hill into the forest itself. I was later to learn that traveling monks had built the church first nearly a century ago, and that the small farming community grew around it.

As I got closer, the temperature began to noticeably drop.

More concerning, was that all the noise in the forest had gone too, eerily similar to that moment yesterday before Megumin's explosion hit.

It was getting darker the closer I got to the church grounds.

I walked further.

The forest still dead silent, I took a torch from my pack and struck it, breathing orange and smoky light into the dark forest. It as if the treetops were shadowing the sun itself.

I saw movement.

Someone or something near the dilapidated church itself.

'Who's there?' I called out.

Silence. Soul crushing Silence.

And then I heard it. The slightest creak of bones moving together and the stink of rotten flesh came from a figure approaching me. The thing stepped forward, once, twice.

Then it came it me.

As the figure came further into the torchlight, sprinting at a speed I wouldn't think possible, I saw its body. The damn thing was a half decomposed skeleton, and it was coming to kill me.

I raised my arming sword in time to parry its blow, a vicious swipe with a spiked club, before stepping back. It came at me again, swinging overhead with its club. I parried, stumbling the undead. Slashing at the arm wielding the club, it gave way with a wet crack as the diseased bone snapped.

The undead was enraged, using its claw boned hand to swipe at me. Instinctually I used my lit torch to block its hand, swatting at the creature.

It stepped back, more cautiously.

Feinting a stab with my sword, I thrust the torch forward into the skeletons exposed belly, setting the fatty flesh alight.

It screached a horrible death cry as the flames spread, licking its diseased body.

Panting heavily, I pushed onward into the church itself. It was small, but still standing after being left unkempt for so long. A testament to the ones who built it, I suppose.

Entering the church, the reek of rotting wood assaulted my senses, as did the temperature drop. The was as if a storm of destruction had swept through; Pews were turned over and demolished. Windows were shattered, books of worship were torn or rotten as the bookshelves were toppled.

A voice sounded out, a whisper spoken through reeds in the wind, 'You should not be here, Returned one.'

'Why is that, spirit? Why have you haunted this place?'

'Your soul is false. Your place here, is false. We should be returned, not you..'

'That may be, but I do not care. This reeks of desecration and I have come to purge it. Do not resist so I may return you to judgment, please!' I pleaded.

The spirit did not reply. Instead, 3 more figures rose from further into the church. I heard sounds coming from a trapdoor to the back right, as faint light spilled out.

'Die. Die so that we may rip your soul from your bones. So that we may be Returned.'

I said nothing. The torch light revealed the figures.

More undead. 2 wore tortured and ancient gambesons, their clothing rotten and the shortswords they carried rusted. The center undead wore a heavily battered and decrypt breastplate and wielded a shimmering Xiphos, it's blade as long as mine.

All had shields of various quality strapped to their arms, with tattered pieces of cloth adorning them.

They began to walk. Bones creaked, their remaining flesh showing the skeleton underneath. The undead made no other sound.

'_Smite!_' I yelled out, casting the holy spell onto them. They screeched as the radiant light struck their unholy bodies, and began to sprint towards me, blades raised to strike. I parried the first one that reached me, the shock running up my arm as our blades clashed, and swiped at it with my torch. The flames hit the things shield and spread up as the cloth burned. It dropped the shield, and made an angered slash at my shoulder. I failed to dodge, but the attack failed to pierce my chainmail shirt. I prayed thanks to whatever deity of luck graced me then. I believed I wouldn't be so lucky next time. Unshielded, I made a stab at the undead's chest, my blade shattering multiple ribs and causing a flinch of pain as it stumbled back.

The other skeletons arrived, and began their attack. I was barely able to hold ground, using my torch to swipe at those who got close, stabbing and slashing at the thrusting blades. The shieldless undead attacked, and I chambered his stab as I thrust forward, locking the blades together.

I twisted my wrist, flinging it's weapon to the ground. Reversing the direction of my blade, I cut up and through its neck, severing the fleshless head from its body.

It keeled over, dead.

I turned to my other opponents, grinning wildly. The breastplate wearing skeleton stabbed immediately. The Xiphos cut above my shoulder, creating a wide gash that luckily wasn't deep. I howled in pain worse than I've ever felt before. Enraged, I kicked the skeleton's shield away and struck my torch into an open gash on its breastplate. Like a slow burning furnace it backed away, ripping and clawing at the chest piece that locked the fire inside.

Whipping around to face the final undead I made a flurry of brutal, sloppy strikes. I was furious, furious at the pain and furious at coming unprepared. Slapping the ancient sword away, I struck at the uncovered neck. Stumbling down as it's head rolled away, I wiped the sweat gathering on my head; horrified at the blood that caked my hand and arms. Dozens of small cuts and bruises pockmarked my body, along with the wound dealt by the lead skeleton.

It was still bleeding as if it struck an artery.

I hurriedly rummaged through the dungeoneer's pack, retrieving a wrap of gauze and bandage padding.

My application was sloppy, but it was enough to stop the immediate bleeding.

The lull time as I groaned in searing pain from the wounds reminded of the Adventurers card I carried. Inspecting it, the card showed that I had risen to level 6, and that I accumulated 5 points to use.

3 points went into _Smite_, 1 point was put into _Inspiring Aura_, and after scrolling through the options I invested the remaining point into _Adrenaline, _the brief description describing, '_The further the user is damaged, the more damage the user will deal. In addition, Aura based abilities will be amplified as long as Adrenaline is active.'_

Rising, grunting in pain as the wounds were stretched, I inspected the corpses of the undead. The 2 lightly armored undead carried nothing of note, their blades almost disintegrating as I touched them. The lead undead, however still carried the shimmering Xiphos. Taking the blade and it's scabbard, I pushed open the half closed trapdoor, praying to Eris to continue to watch over me.

If she wasn't, I prayed that my party wouldn't find me bleeding out in this cursed place.

Once down the short amount of stairs, I equipped another torch and struck it, lighting the dim corridor.

Walking down the hallway, I saw sets of faintly glowing green eyes staring back at me.

'Ah shit…' I began.

The corridor wasn't wide enough to account for the 6 of them, but the front ranks carried rusted weapons and shields and the back ranks carried various damaged polearms.

The undead began their march towards me.

I was building a cold fury at the sight of my opponents. I was tired of this. I wanted to get back, to be with my party, to be with-'

I sighed, and readied my weapon.

'_Smite!' _I shouted, casting the spell on the undead. Instead of just causing pain, a few of the damned things actually fell, dead. The rest were stumbling as they regained their unholy senses and resolve.

I was upon them then. Furiously slashing and hacking with my sword, I tore into the undead. I was not parrying blows. I did not need to.

I used my torch to dispatch the front ranks, the flames spreading across their necrotic flesh and rotten clothing even as I moved onto the second rank. The 2 remaining polearm users were quickly backing away, trying to avoid the flames and gain distance to use their ranged weapons.

One struck at me, I feinted a stab and struck upwards, digging deep into its remaining belly. It fell to its knees, trying to rise again.

I decapitated it.

I was beginning to feel something disconnected as my blows struck and the shock shot up my arm. Infact, the feeling was spread across my entire body. I was performing strikes and murmuring prayers of righteousness that I never heard or seen before.

A quick stab from the remaining undead brought me back to my senses, as the end of its shortened pike pierced my unprotected, black jeans.

Suppressing a howl of pain, I battered away its pike and stabbed with my sword into its disease softend skull.

The hallway ended abruptly, as it opened into a spacious cavern deep under the church. Strange runes covered the caverns walls, and glowed bright as I entered. In the center was a group of necrotic robed figures.

Surrounding them were bodies. Dozens of sacrificed animals, and the stolen villagers. The villager bodies looked fresh.

The strange feeling returned, and I didn't feel sick or shaken as I viewed the carnage.

I believe that's what horrified me more.

The figures turned, and I saw what they were. It was a group of wraiths, and their dead eyes burned with fury at my approach.

'The Returned one interrupts us!' They sounded out, the voice hoarse and ancient with age, 'Kill the interloper!'

The wraiths merged into one, forming a slim, physical body wrapped in robes and strands of paper. It's fingers ended in warped claws, shining in the torch light.

It charged, and began the fight.

I was losing, no, _dying_, as I fought the wraith.

As I casted _Smite_ it visibly hurt the wraith, but it wasn't enough. It just wasn't enough. There were only so many times I could cast the radiant spell before I ran out, and I didn't want to collapse from mana exhaustion like Megumin. I parried the first few blows with the torch, but had to move on to dodging and backstepping once the torch was hacked apart by its rending claws.

I was losing, and I was losing bad.

I wasn't terribly damaged until I miscalculated a swipe, the talon like claws ripping across my chest. _Adrenaline_ was kicking in. I pushed forward, no longer stepping back, making sweeping strikes to give me distance. I felt like I had less conscious control but I felt every strike, every time the claws ripped into my chainmail or every time my sword struck nothing but robes.

The cold anger I witnessed before was rising as blood soaked my shirt.

Wielding the arming sword in one hand I saw a radiance building around me; the warmth enveloping me as I struck back. I roared out as I feinted a strike to swipe at the things claws, closing the distance between us. 'My faith is fury! My will is fire!'

The voice was not my own, rather it shot out in a resonance of combined chorus.

I was beginning to lose the feeling of sole control in my body, but I felt everything tenfold.

There, There! An Opening! Howling prayers unfamiliar I surged forward, plunging the sword deep into its dry flesh. The wraith reacted instantly, whipping its claws around my in a death grapple as the talons dug into my shoulders and back. It slightly relaxed, confident that I was dead from my failed strike.

'Die in shame and shadow, creature!'

The voice once again a chorus of throats. I began casting _Smite_ onto the blade still plunged into the wraiths body.

It screeched, realizing my plan.

I began to lose sight as dark spots crept into my vision, but I continued pouring everything I had into the spell.

The blade was white hot, nearly burning my hand from the radiant heat. The wraith continued howling.

Nearly losing consciousness, I pushed myself away from the creature as it clawed and tore at itself to lose the light infused blade.

Roaring, it made to tear me apart. Turning around to protect myself, it stopped suddenly and blew apart in a shower of bone, cloth and light.

Shards had dug deep into my back, but I did not, or could not, care. Turning back I saw as the runes lost their glow and the chamber itself plunged into darkness.

I fell forward, my eyesight showing red before I slammed into the ground.

Silence.

The soul crushing silence returned, as I bled out in a desecrated church. '_This is it,' _I thought, '_This is how I die. My party will find me drowned in blood and bone shards and I will lay dead in this damnable church.'_

Then I heard a voice.

'Get up..'

It was faint, and distant.

'Get up, Templar. Rise. Your duty is not yet done.' The voice was closer, warmer, and familiar. I murmured something in a drunken stupor as I slowly pushed up, light spilling into the darkened cavern. I saw the vague outline of someone slim, wearing light clothing.

Warm hands grasped me as I shakily stood up, the voice sounding out again. 'Heaven and the Gods are smiling on your work, ya know. We were worried that I went too far in my control but.. I think you'll be fine.'

I could tell we traveled back into the church's corridor and the person began to use healing magic upon me; the cooling touch closing the most fatal wounds.

'Now, Bayard, rest. Rest in your victory earned in fury.'

And so I rested.

Ur-Laet was worried.

It had been nearly 3 hours since the Paladin arrived, and all the villagers were worried. Sam-Laet, the elder, had said nothing since he left, but his uneasiness look spoke volumes to the rest of the villagers. '_Was he dead?' 'Did we send out Eris-Sama's response with no support?' _And a million other worries sounded out in Ur-Laet's head.

Until he saw him walking down the hill, out of the forest.

He was alive, but horribly wounded as the blood trail slowly behind him told.

Ur-Laet and a couple of the villagers ran out to meet him, one of them holding the Eris reward. Because it had been a month since they posted the quest, the reward grew as the villagers grew more desperate, hoping that someone would come to investigate.

The Paladin, Bayard, stopped and took the bag. Then he spoke, 'Church was haunted. I cleasned it though now I recommend burning it as well.' He began to march again, not stopping to answer various questions. Ur-Laet ran after him, shouting his questions. 'Wait, Wait! What did you find down there? And what of the other villagers?'

The Paladin stopped his march. He turned, his face a grim scowl Ur-Laet knew he would never forget.

'A coven of wraiths took up in the basement, began abducting people for some unholy reason.' He closed his eyes for a moment. 'All the villagers were dead before I arrived. I'm sorry.'

He turned, and began his march back to Axel, leaving the remaining villagers weeping and crying out.

The sounds of battle drew me back to my senses.

I had walked most of the way back thinking on what had occurred, leaving my legs to march me back to the town. After I collapsed and the person appeared, I rested for what seemed like an hour or so. Being gone for nearly 3 hours probably had some of my party members worried or at least concerned. I hoped.

The clashes of weapons and the shouting of Adventurers brought me back from my internal criticism. Putting on a running stride, I prepared for another fight.

Arriving over a hill revealing Axel caught me off guard, however. There was a group near the gates, sure, but the sounds and signs of fighting was all but gone.

It wasn't long before I spotted the impossibly bright blue of Aqua's hair and soon saw the rest of the party.

Darkness, notably without most of her armor, saw me first, calling out to the arguing Kazuma and Aqua. Kazuma reached me first, shouting. 'Oi! Where've you been? We almost went out to fi-' He stopped. I said nothing as I paled further with the blood pooling where I stopped.

'Aqua! Get over here now! Bayards been hurt badly..' He looked to me again, worry covering his usually calm face.

Aqua came not long after, bringing Darkness and Megumin as she ran to me.

To be honest, I expected her to stop and make a curt remark or a quip at the state I was in. She did not.

With a look of professionalism I rarely saw, she pushed me down and began healing me; the familiar cooling feeling numbing the pain and sealing my open cuts. I looked up to Kazuma and asked him, 'How bad do I look?'

'Looks like you got roughed up by a small grifon. Seriously, what attacked you to cause all this?'

'Nearly a dozen undead and a coven of wraiths. Almost died cleansing the church, though..'

I would never forget the slack jawed expression of horror that the 3 gave me that day.

'Sacred Break Curse!' Aqua shouted suddenly, breaking the silence.

I turned my head, asking what she did that for.

'There was an enchanted cut placed here,' She pointed at the wound dealt by the Xiphos wielding undead, 'that caused unstoppable bleeding. It wouldn't be cured by conventional means, so if you didn't have me here you'd be dead already!'

A slight amount of her joking attitude seeped in, but what troubled me was just how deadly the quest already was before I even entered the cavern. Without Aqua, I probably would've died before I even got to plead for help.

Back at the guild, I went to Luna to turn in the completed quest. I showed her my card, confirming what I said was true, and received the quest completion award. The total Eris reward was just under a million.

Returning to the table, I saw that there was an abundance of cabbage meals, as was outside but I was busy bleeding to death to notice.

I also saw the extent of how damaged Darkness's armor was, and asked, 'What could have done all that?'

Kazuma, with a dejected look in his eyes, answered for her in a deadpan voice.

'Cabbages. Flying Cabbages.'

The 3 other party members spent the rest of dinner trying to explain to Kazuma and I that cabbages flying were completely normal.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

We continued our meal without much interruption. Megumin told me what happened today while I was out doing the quest. After I left, Kazuma, Darkness, and Chris went outside to teach him a new skill.

'It's actually pretty useful ya know,' he said, taking another bite of fried cabbage, 'It works by stealing the item most valuable to the victim, along with the effectiveness being based on luck.'

'And your highest skill is luck, right?' He nodded.

'So what happened then? How'd the spell go?'

Kazuma turned away from me, almost dreading the answer coming from Megumin. Aqua and Darkness seemed incredibly interested as well, despite being there to witness it before me.

'He stole Chris' panties.'

I stopped chewing.

Kazuma spoke in a deadpan voice similar to earlier, looking down.

'I was trying to steal her pouch of money. It stole her panties instead.' He stopped, trying to leave the table. The other 3 grabbed him and forced him down, making him continue.

When they returned to the guild, Chris left to go do a quest to regain her money taken by Kazuma. I paled further, and the party quickly explained to me that she also went with a pick-up group.

Kazuma continued shamefully explaining the rest of the story, much to the satisfied delight of the 3 women. I stopped listening at some point, however, and began to reflect again on the day again. Kazuma finished recapping the day, and turned to face me.

He grabbed and began shaking me violently, screaming, 'You weren't even listening?!'

After he stopped, and many mug's of the guilds "Neroid Swish", I began the full explanation of my story. I left out the last part of the strange person healing me, and lied, saying 'There were a couple of basic healing potions scattered about. I think those kept me alive long enough to get back.'

Silence enveloped us, until Kazuma slammed a fist down and pointed a finger at me. 'Well I know one thing, you're banned from doing solo quests ever again.'

I smiled, nodding my approval.

'And you're also banned from doing straining activities for the time being, apart from worshipping me of course! But really, you did lose a lot of blood. And jeez, you should've told me you were going on an undead hunt..' Aqua said, an almost saddened look in her eyes.

'I nearly did, but you seemed more than content doing party tricks all day for the drunks of the guild.'

'They weren't drunk!'

The two began to childishly argue like siblings while the rest of us watched. Something Kazuma said had ticked her off because she was now berating him and calling him a "Hiki-NEET" over and over again.

Shaking my head, I turned to the hopeless crusader and asked her, 'So are you officially in the party now?'

'Ah- erm.. No. I didn't get much of the chance to ask earlier..'

I sighed and closed my eyes, before opening them again and getting the attention of the arguing pseudo siblings.

'Well then. I'm Darkness, a Crusader. My weapon is supposed to be a two-handed sword, but don't count on it too much. I'm clumsy with my hands and tend to miss. But I'm good at being a tank, so please take good care of me.'

Our party was filling out all the typical roles of an adventuring group. For the first time since arriving in this world, I felt a sense of warm love to this group, to the people I've met already. I suppose my mind was catching up with how close to death that quest took me, as well as the exertion toll it took.

Aqua huffed, looking pleased.

'Hmph.. our party's really rounding out. I'm an Arch-priest, Bayard is a Paladin, Megumin is an Arch-Wizard, and now we've recruited Darkness, a vanguard specialist. 4 out of 5 members having higher level jobs is rare, Kazuma! Do you know how lucky you are? You have to be grateful, you know..'

'_A mage that could only cast one high leveled spell a day, a masochistic crusader in heat, a stone faced Paladin who nearly died the moment we took our eyes off of him, and a priest who is worse than the other 3, and practically useless most of the time!'_ Kazuma thought.

During the cabbage hunt, Darkness hit it off well with Megumin and Aqua, as well as having previously spent the night with Bayard; though when questioned about it she got all red-faced and refused to talk about it, muttering something about '_Her first real night spent with a friend.'_

Kazuma looked up and stared at Bayard.

Don't tell me she's in heat with a party member too!

After we ate, the party all dispersed to go to sleep. I was the first to leave because I was exhausted, nearly falling asleep halfway through dinner. Once I closed my room door in the stables, sleep seemed to evade me. Laying the hay, my thoughts drifted to what motivations I had to really be here. I knew my goal was to "Defeat the Demon King.", but that problem seemed so far away from now. Kazuma tried and failed to persuade Darkness not to join once he revealed that we planned to take on the Demon King, in fact, in fact, It made her more urgent to join. '_She was spouting her masochistic nonsense at that point.'_ I remember him saying.

Despite my muscle-crippling exhaustion, I stayed up rambling to myself for another hour before drifting to sleep.

That night, I dreamed of Wraiths.

I pushed my way through the door, its ringer bell sounding out as I entered the blacksmith store. According to Darkness, this armorer, named Lorenz, is one of the best smiths she knows for his skill in specific commissions rather than producing lines of armor. Racks and shelves covered the inside of the store, and armor stands carried beautiful sets of gilded and engraved pieces. Weapon racks harbored exquisite examples of the blacksmith's skill, but also carried many simpler weapons made to be sold to adventurers.

Many of these independent places survived commercially by selling directly to the Adventurers guild or by completing massive orders to the Kingdom and its Military.

Lorenz, like most, chose the former.

I stood there, in awe for a moment, taking in the sights and smells of the gear before the sound of the armorers approach brought me back to my senses.

Our conversation was short and brief. I handed him the paper of my commision and another, a basic blueprint containing an item I wanted to see if he could attempt his skills at. He took my Eris for the commision set, but told me he wouldn't charge for the blueprint.

'W-Wait, Why's that?'

'Because if it doesn't work than I can sell it to you as is, but it does work, then you and I will be very rich men.'

While I was there, I also traded in my damaged gear for another, a set of chainmail and gambeson armor. After rummaging through his backroom, he produced me the new set of armor, laced boots, leather gloves, and a traveling cloak of bright yellow.

'I knew keepin this 'round would come in handy. Take it. Consider it a gift for becoming a patron of my services.'

I thanked the man curtly, and left once I equipped the new gear.

The trip to Otto's took me across the entire city of Axel, and I got to take in the atmosphere of the early morning city. Bakers and merchants sold fresh sweet cakes and neriods to those rising early for work. Shady groups of men stood near alleyways and less trafficked routes, disappearing at the nearest sight of a guard patrol. I stayed away from the more fouler smelling and looking area's; I didn't intend on dying of an incurable sickness just because I took a shorter route.

The routine was similar to my trip to Lorenz's shop. A curt conversation was all that passed between Otto and I, before I made my request. I was in need of proper tools and supplies for adventuring; and while I still had most of the dungeoneer pack, the lack of proper medical tools, potions, and the things required to make camp had left me wanting.

Otto returned later, placing the bulky pack down on the counter. I was about to pay, before he asked the question I was mostly trying to avoid.

'So. How'd your quest go?'

I grunted in pain shifting my sore back, answering him. 'Badly.'

'How badly?'

'Nearly a dozen undead and a coven of wraiths had taken up in the abandoned church. Because no adventurers took up the quest to clear it early, the coven was left unchecked to perform their dark magic. By the time I arrived, they managed to abduct all the female villagers and an entire family without much of a fight.'

He scowled, staring at me with glazed eyes, before blinking and looking away.

'I believe you. I also noticed you're carrying a new blade, not the one I gave you. I trust that you have an explanation?'

Ignoring as to how the blind merchant would notice that, I sighed, and began to explain.

'The wraith wouldn't die. I plunged it deep into the creature and put more than enough _Smite_ into the sword for any undead. It, along with the wraith, exploded once the holy spell melted the sword. I'm ... sorry, if it had meant a lot to you.'

'It did. But it also helped to bring down a coven of wraiths, so I'm not all that mad.' He gave me a half smile, and said nothing else to me.

It was about a couple hours before midday, and on my way to the guild I ran into Kazuma and Aqua. He had the same idea has mine, upgrading his equipment to at least be wearing some armor.

Entering the guild, I saw the other two party members. Megumin had upgraded her staff and was vehemently enjoying its '_Awe striking power in the use of destruction magic..' _while Darkness was wearing a tight black skirt and tank top, along with her scabbard and sword. We went to meet them.

'Wow Kazuma! You actually look like a proper adventurer now, that strange clothing just wasn't cutting it..'

'Don't insult my tracksuit! It holds a lot of meaning to me, Ok?!'

He sighed, looking to me. I shrugged.

'Anyways, we're in the mood for a quest right? So we should go for something easy and close to do.'

Megumin stood, visibly excited. 'One with lots of small fry monsters should be perfect to test out my new staff!'

Darkness and Megumin left to the quest board, and I got a few steps in before they remembered that I was banned from doing quests at the moment. Damning my luck, they shooed me away back to the table.

Returning to my seat, Aqua was smiling to herself about something before turning to Kazuma, "What an introverted hikiNEET… Only Kazuma has the weakest job, so I understand why you should be cautious. But all the other members have top-tier jobs! We should take on a bunch of high-difficulty jobs and make lots of money, level up like crazy and take down the Demon King easily! That's why we should take on difficult quests!"

Kazuma thought to himself for a moment, then faced Aqua.

'… I really didn't want to say this, but… You haven't been of much use so far.'

'..!'

Aqua and Bayard were stunned by what he said.

Ignoring them, he continued on.

'Normally, you should be giving me powerful abilities or equipment, allowing for me to live here without having to work much. I know that this is a free service provided by the gods, so I didn't want to complain. I was blinded by rage back then, but choosing you instead of an ability was my fault! But you're here in place of those abilities or equipment, and are you performing on par with those special abilities or equipment? Are you? You were acting so great and confident in the beginning, but you've totally not been of much use, recently. Weren't you supposed to be a wonderful goddess?'

'I still am a goddess!'

'Now wait a minute, calm down now..'

"Goddess!? What should a goddess be doing!? Guiding the hero to fight the Demon King and sealing the Demon King before the hero's strong enough to take him on! And what'd you do during the cabbage hunt!? You did grab a lot toward the end, but you were spinning around because of them and threw a tantrum on the floor, right? Even vegetables can make you cry! Are you really a goddess!? Are you really qualified to call yourself a goddess!? Your only contributions getting eaten by a toads, doing party tricks, and the one time you helped Bayard out!"

'Wah- Wahhh!'

Aqua began to wail on the table, her face hidden.

Kazuma expected Bayard to rebuke or say something, but looking up at the Paladin revealed nothing but a stone cold face devoid of emotion.

He turned, and left the table, blending into the more crowded tables and ordered a drink.

Megumin and Darkness returned not long after, confused as to why our resident goddess was snoring on the table and why the Paladin had left all together.

'Is that so.. Haha! That's amazing!'

I was telling a classic story of mine to the fighters and veteran adventurers of the table. I'd be lying if I said I was there for the sole reason of information gathering, I also had wanted to speak to them for a change of company.

From listening in on conversations, I had learned of places to avoid, places to go for decent grinding, and a myriad of other vital tips.

One of the older adventurers, a Crusader by the name of Sihmal, turned and faced me.

'Word spread fasts, young Paladin. I think we're all interested in that story of yours.' A chorus of agreement sounded from the other adventurers.

He smiled, expectant for me to begin.

I was tired of telling the story already, it was still too fresh on my mind to heal as an old questing tale. But with how eager many of them were, I don't think I had a choice.

So I told them. Everything. From my first encounter with the undead to the cavern of wraiths, they soaked up every detail.

I reached the part of the stranger who saved me, and hesitated.

Just as I was about to begin again, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

Turning, I came face to face with Darkness.

'Well lads, I'm sorry but it looks like that'll be all the story you get right now.'

'W-What? Aw, lad, Come on! You said you were nearly done, right?'

'Mhm, after that nothing of note really happens. Well.. Hm. Nope, nothing happens after that.'

Leaving them, I went with Darkness back to the group. Aqua was dead asleep, face down on the table.

'Hm, what is it? Found a good quest?' I asked.

Kazuma explained to me that It was time to level up Aqua, and they had chosen a relatively simple quest to investigate a graveyard that had been spawning undead.

They also decided that it wouldn't hurt to bring me along, seeing as I could still cast spells without getting in any physical fights.

I was caught off guard, for a moment. The appreciation of trust already between us made that warm feeling return.

Shaking my head to regather my thoughts, I realized that Darkness was going to go unarmored.

'What about Darkness? Her armor isn't ready yet..'

'I'm fine with it, I have a full set of defensive skills that aren't just for show. Even without armor, I dare say that I'm harder than materials... And it feels better without armor when I get hit.'

Kazuma stared at her. '..You just said it feels great to get hit, didn't you.'

'..No I didn't.'

'Well regardless,' I said, getting their attention, 'the only thing that matters is if Aqua's willing.' I turned, expecting her to get up from her nap now that we were talking about her.

She didn't, so I reached out and shook her shoulders. 'Oi, get up, goddess. We got a quest for you.'

She snored louder in response, and murmured something too quiet to hear.

'Ah. Well Kazuma, I suppose we could always go get an Eris priest from the church..'

Aqua snapped up at that.

There was a hill, far away from the town. Further than Kazuma or I have ever been.

On that hill, there was a public cemetery used to bury the passed homeless and poor.

Our specific quest was to investigate and defeat the monsters being raised there, with the greatest goal being to find the one raising them.

It was almost evening by the time we got there, and we had set up camp not far from the hill to wait for nightfall.

We had no luck spotting or catching any animals, but Aqua had a stroke of genius and recommended we buy supplies dinner before leaving. At first, I ridiculed her for the idea.

The smell of barbeque filled our senses, as did the simple stew I was working on over the campfire.

I knew I owe her an apology, as well as a full thanks for her healing magic done before.

Megumin had fully set up a barbeque of the fresh vegetables and meat purchased, and I used the trimmings and rations to make a thick camping stew.

The other three party members were away while we cooked, so a lot of small conversation had passed between the Arch-Wizard and I.

'Where'd you learn to cook, anyways, Bayard?'

I looked up from the pot and thought for a moment, before answering her.

'I had to learn a lot of recipes from my time spent camping with family. I suppose I just picked up on it over the years.'

'Camping? Why would a family go camping?'

I silently cursed myself, forgetting that some things were different in this world due to the time period.

'Some of my distant family is of the nobility, so when they would visit we often went camping. They always put it up to "_Wanting to experience the rustic life.", _and with how decadent they lived, I'd believe it.'

She sighed, and I turned my head to look at her.

'My family was never rich.. Even for being in the crimson demon village. Learning to make the most out of meals was one of the first things I was taught, and in turn, taught to my little sister.'

'Didn't you make a decent amount from the last quest? Why not send money to support them?'

'Oh I send some money, but I don't send most of it because it would only be wasted. My father is an inventor, but most everything he makes doesn't sell well, so the money I send would only get burned away.'

She sighed, and turned away, looking to nowhere. 'I guess I've always wondered what living rich is like, even but for a moment.'

I stood, and began walking to the tents. I stopped after passing Megumin.

'I think that with how our group is right now, we'll do fine. And even if we don't, we could always just sell Aqua's expensive gear…'

Taking her small laugh as my cue to go, I left and informed the party that it was time to eat.

The temperature dropped.

I lost the color in my face, and drew my sword.

The others noticed it too, and readied themselves.

Aqua was shaking, and turned to me.

'… It's getting cold. Hey Bayard, our quest is to take down the zombie maker, right? I have a feeling it won't be a small fry, but a big shot undead.'

It was midnight already, with a full moon above us. We approached with no torches or lanterns, the moonlight enough already.

I was suppressing a cold fear at the thought of facing undead again, and so I tried to eek out the calmest response possible.

'We will find and cleanse this undead. If it proves too much, I want all 3 of you,' I stopped and pointed at Megumin, Kazuma, and Darkness, 'to get the hell out of here and bring help.'

Kazuma seemed more than wary, and walked in front of the goddess and I.

'Got it, but I have that _Enemy Detection _skill, so I'll be up front.'

We nodded our understanding, and approached the graveyard.

Just a couple steps in, Kazuma stopped us.'I feel something strong nearby, around 2 or 3.. No, 4 enemies near us.'

Not a second later did the graveyard be illuminated by dozens of blue-white lights. It was a massive ward, and there was a figure in the center with black robes.

'Hmm? That.. That doesn't look like a zombie maker..' Megumin said unconfidently. There were several shadows near the figure, and my fried nerves were raised further as we got closer.

'Are we going in? Anyone out in a cemetery at this hour is probably an undead of some sort. If that's the case, it'd be best to let Aqua cast her spells about now.'

Darkness drew her sword, and looked anxious to get going.

Aqua suddenly shot up, and charged at the figure, pointing her finger and shouting.

'How dare you show up here, Lich! Bayard, get over here! It's time we cleanse this menace..'

I was hot on her heels already, at first trying to stop her, but now trying to intervene before this lich could do anything to the goddess.

I arrived a second after, _Smite_ charging in a mass of radiant light in one hand, my Xiphos in the other. Aqua had started stomping and wrecking the light circles surrounding the cemetery.

The figure began to shout back, panicking as our goddess roamed around dismantled the circles.

'Stop, stop! W-Who are you?! Why'd you come here and why are you destroying my magic circle? Stop, please!'

'Geez, you're noisy! Shut up undead, you must be planning to use this circle to do devious means! I'll destroy it before I allow that!'

I winced and nearly turned away as the lich grabbed onto Aqua's waist in tears, expecting her to attack our Arch-Priest. Instead, the lich's minions didn't move at all to stop Aqua, opting to just stand there and watch.

I dispelled _Smite, _unbuckled and sheathed my sword, and approached the struggling pair.

The lich seemed to panic further as I got closer, and quickly pointed to the motes of light leaving the cemetery.

'Stop-! Please, stop! This circle's used to send wandering spirits to heaven, look! The spirits are rising to the sky, right?'

She wasn't wrong. The more motes of light approached into the circle and were sent rising into the sky.

'You're acting way too benevolent for a lich! An Arch-Priest like me will perform this job, so just scram! You're taking too much time, just watch as I purify this cemetery along with you!'

'Eh?! Wait, no!'

The lich began to panic as Aqua opened her arms and started her spell.

'_Turn Undead!'_

Light seemed to come forth from Aqua and encompassed the entire cemetery. The minions vanished instantly, along with the gathering spirits, as the light spread out further.

'Hya–! My, my body's fading! Stop, my body's disappearing! I'll be purified!'

'Ha, foolish lich! Your existence goes against the law of nature, an undead which defies the will of the gods! Disappear, be vanquished by my power!'

I said nothing, standing motionless as Aqua continued to radiate light.

Kazuma rushed up and knocked the back of her head with the pommel of his sword.

'-! That hurts! Why'd you hit me, I was purifying this place!'

Her focus broken, the light stopped emitting and the lich's body stopped disappearing.

I approached the lich, scabbard still in hand, and inspected her.

'You look to be fine.. May I ask your name, Lich?'

'I-I-I-It's Wiz.. thank you for saving me from that crisis..!'

I heard Kazuma approach from behind me. Wiz took off the hood she was wearing and, lit from the moonlight above, she seemed to be beautiful, brown haired woman around twenty years old or so.

Wiz was not what I expected a lich to look like, and she looked more like a darker witch than any evil undead.

'Eh, Wiz?' Kazuma said, 'What are you doing in this cemetery? You said you wanted to send the spirits to heaven… but that shouldn't be what a lich like you should be doing, right?'

'What are you doing Kazuma?! Bayard, quick! She's weak, so cast _Smite_ and finish her before you both get contaminated and turn into an undead!'

I'm not ashamed to admit that my hand did whip to the hilt of my sheathed sword, but that same hand also motioned Aqua to be quiet, as Kazuma and I wanted to hear what the Lich had to say.

'B-Because as you can see… I'm a lich, the overlord of the undying. As the overlord, I can hear the voices of the spirits wandering in the world. Most of the spirits in this public cemetery don't have money and didn't have a proper burial, so they couldn't move on to the afterlife and haunted the cemetery every night. Since I'm an overlord, I'd visit periodically and send the wayward spirits on their way.'

Kazuma's eyes began to tear up, but I remained grimaced as I looked down on the weakened Lich.

'I think that's a good thing to do,' I said, 'but… Although I'm not Aqua, wouldn't it be better to leave this to the priest in this town?'

In response to my query, Wiz was hesitant to speak as she peeked at the unhappy Aqua, finally saying:

'B-Because… The priests in this town are materialistic… Eh, no. I mean… The rites for those without money would be pushed down their waiting list… Something like that…'

She explained herself further to Kazuma, but I stood and made my way to the silent party.

He walked to Aqua and explained that she would periodically purify the cemetery, and I decided to agree that I would tag along on these trips to assure "_She did the damn job her goddess powers were meant for." _as Kazuma put it.

It was almost dawn by the time we got back to town.

We left the lich off with the promise that Aqua and I would purify the cemetery. Aqua may be aloof with promises, but as a Paladin I was usually bound by the promises I made. I made that promise simply because I didn't trust Aqua to fulfill it fully, but later in time I would come to appreciate the purification trips more than I did then.

Aqua, however, threw a tantrum because her sleeping time would be reduced.

As the lich departed, she handed Kazuma a paper with an address on it, saying that she ran a small magic item shop in town.

The fact that a lich had managed to set up shop in the town of Axel without the security ever knowing worried me more than Wiz herself.

'We were lucky things turned out so well in the end. Even with Aqua here, the opponent was still a lich. If we really had fought, all of us would definitely be dead."

I was stunned by how nonchalantly Megumin dropped that nice bit of insight.

Kazuma had the same reaction as me, and asked, 'Are liches that dangerous? Would we even have stood a chance?'

"It's much worse than that! Liches have a high magic defense, so nothing can harm her except enchanted weapons. She could have triggered all sorts of abnormal statuses just by touching her enemies, and she can also drain their life and mana; Liches are a legendary immortal monster. What surprised me was that Aqua's Turn Undead had such a great effect on such a powerful being."

'_Ah.' _I thought, '_She is the boss of undead afterall.'_

While we were discussing this, Darkness asked us quietly, 'By the way, what does that mean for the quest to defeat the zombie maker?'

'...'

Damnit!

After reporting that it was just a basic undead summoning ritual to the guild, each of us received a measly amount of Eris, and went to bed before we lost any more sleep.

We returned the next day, eager to complete another quest after the disappointing night. Luna informed us upon arrival that one of the Demon King's Generals had moved in recently, scaring away the other monsters. A unit of Knights were dispatched from the capital to deal with the General, and would take them about a month to get here. That left us only higher level quests, quests too high for us to possibly complete.

More than the usual amount of Adventurers were in the guild, all getting drunk. I suppose we were not the only party hit hard by the lack of quests.

Megumin and Kazuma departed not long after, and Darkness had left to catch up with Chris.

With Aqua picking up a part time job to make up for guild debts, I decided to go with Darkness and confirm something that I had been burning at my mind for awhile.

We met Chris outside a decently fancy cafe, and sat down with her. She seemed pleased that Darkness had shown, but was utterly surprised that I had come along.

I had never even known that cafe's like these were common in the city, and upon viewing the menu I ordered a simple coffee with cream and sugar. Returning to the table and the seated Chris, the eager Darkness lapped up all the news her friend had to tell.

'_Ah. There it is again. That imprint of an aura is way too familiar to be a coincidence.'_

Once she was done, Darkness in turn told Chris of all the things that had happened since she left. I wasn't listening much, too busy nursing my first cup of coffee I had in a long while, I suppose.

As Darkness began telling the part of my solo quest, I looked up and matched the staring pair of eyes Chris shot me. Silver hair, a scar running down her right cheek, and bright purple eyes.

Purple eyes that had sent me to this world.

'It was you, wasn't it?'

She feigned confusion, but after a second she nodded and smiled.

'I was wondering how long it would take you, Bayard. I thought I nearly gave you too much of a hint back then, but it seems that you figured it out.'

'W-Wait, what? What's going on? How do you two know each other?'

Darkness was like a kid eager to understand an adult conversation.

Ignoring her, I continued.

'I suppose one of the indicators was the scar, or lack of. But the biggest one is that aura you carry around.'

Now she did look shocked.

'I thought it'd go away after a while..'

I shrugged, 'Maybe for someone who's never met you, but we both know that's a different case for me.'

Darkness was now juggling between listening intently and trying to ask questions.

Ignoring the poor crusader again, I faced Chris to ask my final question.

'Why didn't you warn me beforehand when you do that.. _Thing, _Hm?'

'Its not as easy as you think. Doing it in the first place already takes enormous concentration and nearly breaks multiple of our core founding rules. I suppose I owe you an apology, but getting you out of there was enough for the time being, right?' She smiled.

I smiled back, and faced Darkness. I told her almost nothing, and simply said that Chris and I had a history that goes back before I met the party. She didn't seem satisfied with my answer, but seeing that she wouldn't get any more information from either of us forced her to be content with the little information given.

We left soon after, our conversations turning to small talk and gossip, and returned to the guild to eat together as a party.

The next day, I visited Lorenz and his workshop. He had begun work on the commission I gave him, but I had come for a different reason.

Before I was sent to this world, my smithing knowledge was limited at best. But now that our party had struck bad luck for quests, my time was suddenly free.

I asked him to take me on as a part time worker, to do labor and to learn his skills. I had no interest in becoming a professional smith, but the skills and abilities I could learn were too good to pass up.

And so I began work, every day, at his shop. Lorenz paid me part time for the labor, but I appreciated the experience gained there more than the Eris gained.

My Adventurers card showed that my smithing skills were rising just from working in proximity to the master smith. Once I showed him that I could learn and put my skills to use, he had me work in the forge itself, crafting minor tools that he couldn't be asked to spend his valuable time on.

Darkness left a few days after to do weight training at her family home for a while, Kazuma and Megumin continued their explosion commute everyday, and Aqua committed to her part time merchant job as well as the promise to purify the cemetery.

We continued this routine for two weeks.

Darkness returned after the two weeks, and we all met at the guild again to find another quest.

Aqua was on the table crying about Kazuma's verbal harassment when I arrived. I only got 5 steps into the guild before-

'Emergency! Emergency! All adventurers, please arm yourselves at once and gather at the front gate of the city, ready for battle!'


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

All 5 of us rushed to the main gates, already prepared and fully equipped. On our sprint to the gates, we saw families rush into houses, merchants packing up stalls, and city guards quieting rowdy mobs of panicked people.

Many of the guild's adventurers were already at the gate, and once we arrived we saw what caused the alarm.

A Dullahan.

The headless undead stood on a rock not far from the gates, its horse and rider dead silent.

He dismounted. Walking towards us, I saw further details of his blackened armor. Dried blood and dust caked some of his plate, the rest eerily shined. His head was tucked into a shoulder, and on his back, I could see a sheathed sword.

The Dullahan presented his head forward, speaking in a deep and resonant voice.

'I am Beldia, General to the Demon King. I have made my home in an abandoned castle not far from here..'

Beldia began to shake, horribly tense as his voice shot into rage.

'Every day, every day, every day! You people launch attacks on me without warning! Where is that crazed idiot who casts _Explosion _every day?!'

I could almost taste the anger and frustration radiating from Beldia. The adventurers around us began to talk amongst themselves, confused as to why this undead suddenly appeared.

'Explosion..?'

'The one who knows explosion magic is…'

'If you're talking about Explosion, it would be…'

Megumin, now being stared at by nearly everyone around her, whipped her head and stared at a mage beside her.

Everyone influenced by her also looked at the mage, now increasingly red and confused.

'Huh? M-Me? But I can't even use explosion magic!' The girl denied in a hurry.

I saw Megumin and Kazuma stare at each other, the color draining from their faces as they realized something.

I began to move towards the front of the crowd, now fully visible to the Dullahan.

Megumin sighed and walked forward, her face extremely annoyed

I was in the lead, with Kazuma, Aqua, and Darkness following behind me as I walked to Megumin. She only stood 20 feet or so away from the undead, no fear showing on her face.

Beldia's voice dripped with venom. 'So.. It was you. If you knew I was a General, why not enter the castle and face me head on? Why must you bother me with such tedious means, casting _Explosion _every day?! Is there something wrong in your head?'

His helmet trembled with rage as he spoke.

Megumin flicked her cape and took a step towards him.

'I am Megumin! I am a Crimson Demon, and the elite mage of this town. I casted explosion magic continuously to lure you, the Demon King's General, out here! As I planned, you came to town alone after being tricked; your end is near!'

She pointed her staff and took a stance ready to attack. The adventurers resolve solidified, and everyone readied weapons, knocked arrows, or began to cast incantations.

Verida didn't move an inch when she spoke, only taking a step forward once the commotion died down.

'Oh.. A crimson demon. That explains the weird name..'

Megumin tensed up and began to shout insults and challenges to the dullahan, only to be cut off as he turned to her.

'Hmph, I didn't come here just to slaughter peons like you. I shall continue to stay at that castle for my investigation here, so cease the explosion magic, got it?'

'Can't do that. A Crimson demon's mastery of explosion magic requires them to release it once a day, or we will die.' She said, without any hesitation.

'What?! I've never heard of that before, don't bullshit me!'

I looked at my party, all were amused or entertained by this, as our lowly Arch-Wizard was taking on this General without any fear.

'You don't plan on giving up explosion magic no matter what? Even though I have taken the side of darkness, I was a knight before and have no interest in slaughtering the weak. But if you continue to bother me with such things, I have my way of handling things too.'

His voice was soaked with enthusiasm and contempt, and Megumin took a step back.

'We're the ones being bothered! Because of you staying in that castle, we can't even do our work properly! You can only act high and mighty now, but we have an expert that deals with the undead here! Master, I leave it to you!'

She took a few steps back, allowing Aqua to summon her staff and approach with a cocky smile. The Dullahan moved his head forward eagerly, his glowing eyes burning brighter.

'Oh, impressive. You're not a normal priestess… but an Archpriest, correct? But no matter, I am a General of the Demon King's Legion. I have not fallen so low that I would be purified by a low-level Archpriest in a place like this. But,' He held out is other arm, and began to summon a spell. How _wrong_ the magic felt, it palpable in the air. 'I'll start by torturing this Crimson Demon girl!'

He threw his arm forward, casting the spell.

'I curse you, Arch-Wizard! You shall perish in one week from now!'

Faster than I could register, Darkness shot forward, clutching Megumin's collar and throwing her aside.

'Wait, No!' I yelled.

But it already landed. The curse shot straight into our crusader, a malelific light surrounding her for a moment. We all rushed toward her, Aqua and I reaching her first. 'D-Darkness, do you feel anything anywhere? Does it hurt?'

She stretched her hand for a moment, then faced me.

'I didn't feel anything at all…'

Beldia's voice boomed behind us, but I didn't turn to face him as he spoke.

'That curse won't harm you now. You have stalled my plans for a bit, but since the camaraderie among adventurers is so deep, this will hurt more. Listen carefully, Crimson Demon girl… If this goes on, that Crusader will die in a week. Hmph, your important companion will be tortured by the horror of death in the meantime… That's right, this is all your fault! In the following week, you will see the pain of your companion and regret your actions! Hahaha, you should've listened to me when I offered mercy!'

All of us paled.

Darkness stood, her face reddening. '_No, don't tell me..' _I thought.

'You have cast a death curse on me, and I must do as you say for you to release said curse! That's what you meant, right!?'

'Huh?'

A silence surrounded us, Beldia began to relax in confusion.

'Ugh! Just a mere curse, don't think you can make me submit! I will not yield, no! But, what should I do!?' She faced us, her face burning bright as she continued, 'Look at that Dullahan, look at his evil lustful eyes under his helmet! No matter how I see it, he wants to bring me back to his castle and do as he pleases if I want him to release the curse. A pervert that wants me to do hardcore perverted play!'

The accused pervert Beldia was only more confused, his head turning in his arm.

'H-Huh?'

Kazuma and I faced each other, our thoughts the same. With a nod, we both grabbed and hauled Darkness back into the group before she could run to the confused Dullahan, shameless and wanting.

He relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief as we took our cursed crusader from view.

'A-Anyway! If you have learned your lesson, stop casting _Explosion _on my castle! The Crimson Demon girl and her party, If you want me to release the curse on that Crusader, then come to my castle! If you can make it to my room at the very top, I'll release her curse! But my legion of undead are everywhere in the castle, with cursed knights awaiting you for every step. Can you rookie Adventurers make your way to me?'

He was challenging us. I was fighting a foreign feeling, one that yearned to grab my sword and declare our acceptance. I was torn, I desperately wanted to follow him there and take on the castle, to root him out in a righteous crusade, but I knew that this desperation was not who was. Not yet. I chose to survive another day, staying my hand before I could unwillingly declare myself champion.

Beldia laughed, a horrible, deep, laughter. Storm clouds gathered, and with a strike of baleful lighting he teleported.

They all stood stiff, blank and pale as the weight of what happened crashing down on them. Megumin gripped her staff, knuckles white, and began marching towards to where his castle was. Kazuma tugged on her cape, saying, 'Hey, where are you going? We don't need another person to die on a solo quest..'

'I'm responsible for this. I plan to head there and cast _Explosion_ on the Dullahan directly to dispel the curse.'

She was planning on doing resolving this alone.

'I'll go with you. If you ran into some minions and used your spell, that would end right there. I didn't realize that was the castle of the Demon King's General either, even though I was with you all this time.'

Megumin faced dropped further, her shoulders drooping as she gave up on the original plan.

'Well then, let's go together. But he said that there would be a bunch of undead knights there. If that's the case, then non-magical weapons will be useless. My magic will be more practical… So, you have to rely on me when the time comes.'

Kazuma heard a cough, and turned to see Bayard approaching, his face grim but an air of confidence following him.

'I have an enchanted blade, as well as multiple Paladin spells. I will lead the vanguard for both of you.'

'_My cheap blade will be useless against plate, but I have other ideas..' _

'I can use my Detect Enemy skill to search for monsters in the castle and conceal myself with Lurk to sneak in. Or we can visit the castle every day and defeat the enemy on each level, one day at a time, grinding them down. We'll reduce enemy numbers slowly and take on the Dullahan before the end of the week.'

They both nodded to the plan.

Bayard turned to the group, saying, 'Now then.. We only need to ask Aqua to-'

'Sacred break spell!'

The dark clouds above us parted, for a moment. Two motes of light descended upon Darkness, removing the curse as if it were a physical thing.

Kazuma, Megumin, and Bayard stared at Aqua, who walked to them, gloating.

'With me around, breaking the curse of the Dullahan is easy! What do you think?'

She flourished her staff, sticking it into the ground and she oozed with confidence.

Bayard scowled, for a moment, before amusement spread on his face, and he turned to pair beside him.

'Lets.. go back. I think we're done here.'

Kazuma and Megumin nodded with the same attitude, disappointed.

Through non-combat means, eating the cabbages, working under Lorenz, and various other activities, I had managed to rise to level 9. Checking my card, I saw that I had a handful of skills points, and various skills and abilities were now open to me from surpassing required level caps.

I put everything into Swordplay, two-handed attacks, and one-handed attacks. I discovered that my weapon handling level can gradually increases just by viewing alone. Informing the master smith of this, he started allowing me to view his weapon testing sessions. It didn't take long before he was teaching me basic movements, strikes, and footwork.

He wasn't doing it full time, nor paying the most attention to me per say, but those little sessions of watching and viewing did expand my knowledge of how to fight. I was now at a level where I could confidently duel someone, and not rely on crude, brute force alone.

About nearly a week had passed already without any attack or word from the Dullahan

'I want to take a quest! It's fine even if it's a bit hard, let's take a quest!'

Aqua shouted into my ear.

We were all at the guild, drinking or eating or trying to pass the time. The four of us expressed our displeasure at hearing Aqua scream for a quest. Except for her, all of us had wallets full of cash and coins from previous jobs. Because the Dullahan still resided in the castle, only the higher level quests were available.

'I'm fine with one, but I alone won't have combat power, and those three..' She motioned at us. The silence was all our answers would need to be. We had no need to take on a dangerous quest, and it was going to be simply safer to wait for the General to be rooted out and the easier quests to return

Looking at how disinterested we were, Aqua cried out loud.

'Please, I beg of you! I don't want to work anymore! The store owner will mad if I don't sell all the croquettes! I'll work hard and do my best this time!'

I looked at Kazuma, and looked at me.

I turned and faced Aqua. 'Alright fine, go to the board and find a good quest, we'll go if it isn't too bad.'

She leapt up excitedly, and trotted to the board.

'Oi, Kazuma,' He turned to me as I spoke, 'She'll probably pick some high level quest. Go make sure doesn't pick anything difficult..'

I trailed off once Darkness began to pant slightly and turn away from us, cheeks red.

Kazuma grunted, stared at Darkness, and got up from the table.

Not long after, the pair were screaming again. Words like 'Manticore Quest,' and 'Useless burden,' were thrown about.

I turned to Darkness, bringing out my card. 'Oh yea, before I forget. Are there skills I could learn from the crusader class? I'm gonna reach level 10 soon, and that'll open up new slots for me to use.'

She thought for a moment, taking out her own card. 'Uh huh, my skills are centred around Physical Defense, Magical Resistance and Abnormal Status Resistance. I also have a skill called Decoy that's used to taunt the enemy.'

Ah, damnit. All were skills I could learn from almost anyone else. I faced Megumin, asking, 'It's offhand, but, how many skill points does it take to get Explosion magic?'

'50 points.' She said, without hesitation. Her face brightened up, slamming her fists on the table excitedly. 'W-Wait, please tell me you plan to walk the path of Explosio-'

I cut her off hurriedly, explaining that my class wouldn't allow me to learn that magic, much less anything more than Faith based magic. She pouted dramatically, Kazuma and Aqua arriving a second later.

'We found a Lake Purification quest,' Kazuma explained, 'And I have a plan to use Aqua safely. First we'll need…'

There was a sizable lake not far from town, serving as one of its many water sources with its streams flowing straight through Axel itself. The lake was fed by glacial water from the surrounding mountains, and when we arrived I nearly stopped in awe.

The area was breathtaking. Pine forests formed above us, climbing high as the mountains rose like the jagged teeth of a Titan. The lake was further down, its water murky and stagnant. But even this corrupted water did little to diminish the serenity of the place, the denser forest around us teeming with life and noise.

We all were silent, taking in the sights around us. All except for Aqua, who was murmuring to herself in the cage.

Kazuma's plan was to lock Aqua into the cage, lower her into the water, and her purifying goddess powers would do the work while we waited. It'd take nearly half to all day, but it was worth the reward of 300,000 Eris for basically watching Aqua do her job.

Cage, cart, and horse were all loaned to us by the guild for the purpose of the quest, but even I doubted that anything we face could damage that solid steel cage.

We arrived, and set up a basic camp to wait. Darkness and I dragged the cage into the water, tying a chain to a nearby boulder to anchor it in place.

'I feel like a tea bag being drained of its flavor..'

I promised her that I would pay for her tab tonight, thinking that she deserves to get as drunk as much as she wants after this. Her resolve was solidified, and her face brightened up as we slowly pushed her into the water.

As we walked back to the area where we set up, a large tree covering the area in shade, I turned to Darkness.

'Oi, when we get there, how about some light sparring? Without real weapons of course, but I'd like to see how much punishment you can take before we get into any real action.'

A full second had passed, my brain catching up with what I just said.

She turned to me, her face nearly beet red as she stuttered out a response. 'Y-Yes, we s-should..'

Ah.

I tried to put on a face of stoicism, and we walked back together.

2 hours had passed with Aqua in the cage. The water was slightly less murky, and the 4 of us had set up fully by the tree, a small fire burning as the horse grazed and the cart sat nearby.

We sparred using our swords, the leather scabbards locked on, making them blunt but effective to train with. Her sword was longer and struck harder with two hands, but mine was lighter and more nimble, only needing one hand. We were breathing hard by then, our clothing sweaty and muscles sore.

Or at least I was.

Darkness was only panting once I struck her, occasionally letting strikes through to hit her armor despite being able to parry the blow. In fact, she didn't look the least bit tired or drained, her stamina and defense near perfect like 2 hours before.

I, on the other hand, was in worse shape. None of her strikes ever hit me, but they were close enough to make me keep my distance. I was faced with a nigh-impenetrable wall of parries, chambers, and plate armor. I was getting to try out the basic techniques I learnt before, feinting attacks to catch her off guard, stabs or strikes that aimed for would be vital areas in a real fight. I wondered why she didn't use a shield if she would only ever defend, too clumsy to ever strike back.

I asked her, breathing hard with sweat trickling down my face as I brought the sheathed blade down on her. The blow smashed into her sword as she parried.

'If you can never attack with that sword,' I said, stepping back to put distance between us, 'Why don't you just use a shield to better defend yourself?'

She wiped her brow of sweat, and took a stance to attack again.

'A crusader must always have their blade, and besides, I always liked getting hit more!' She shouted as she lunged forward, sword swiping in a wide arc. The attack missed, of course, but it greatly closed the distance. I made to strike back, swinging over and hitting her shoulder.

Darkness whipped around, sword in the offhand as she moved her backhand to strike me. I saw the move a second late, and her fist smashed into my chest, knocking the breath out of my lungs and tumbling me back.

I never saw Darkness as being overtly strong. Kazuma always put her body as '_Busty and beautiful' _and I was inclined to agree.

She hit me with the force akin to the car that sent me to this world. She was never bluffing when she spoke about how high her strength and stamina stats were, I realized.

I stuck my sword into the ground, shakily standing up as she walked over with a grin plastered on her face.

Forcing air into my sore lungs, I said to her, 'Did.. I even make you the least bit tired?'

Her grin grew wider, and her face became redder, 'A little bit, I suppose. That was fun, we should do that more..' She walked off, back to the spot where we set up.

Our masochistic crusader took everything I threw at her when we sparred, and ended the fight with a single punch. Our Arch-Wizard could cast a spell that would end most fights before they began, albeit only once a day. Our Arch-Priest is a goddess in the flesh, able to call upon holy powers and the best healing magic.

What did Kazuma and I bring to the table? I suppose that we were the Jack-of-all-trade roles, able to be flexible, unlike the other 3. I thought about this as I laid against the tree, my hood covering my face as I rested.

'By the way, the brutal alligators aren't showing up. It would be great if things end peacefully like this.' Megumin said, looking at the resting Bayard.

'_Please don't say that, you're gonna trigger a flag.'_ Kazuma thought.

Ripples began to form in the lake, all approaching the caged goddess. They were Alligators, similar in size and mass to the ones on earth, but these were monsters, and carried a malefic presence with them.

Aqua screamed, curling up into a ball as she shouted at Kazuma. Bayard shot up, faster than he thought possible for the sleeping Paladin, and drew his sword in the same second. Bewildered, It took him a second to realize that they weren't under attack, and he sheathed his shimmering sword a moment later. The four of them moved closer to Aqua, being able to hear the curses and shouts she made as the alligators moved closer until they were right at the cage.

Four hours had passed with Aqua shouting and casting nonstop _Purification. _

The large group of alligators were gnawing and thrashing against the cage, but were doing nothing more than scratch the steel bars.

'Purification! Purification! The cage is creaking! It's creaking! The cage, cage is making weird sounds!'

Aqua screamed inside the cage, but we couldn't blow them away with explosion magic either, so we couldn't do anything about it.

'Aqua!' Kazuma shouted, 'Tell us if you want to give up! We'll drag you along with the cage with the chain!'

He had been shouting at her for sometime now, but Aqua was vehement in refusing to abandon the quest.

'I-I don't want to! Giving up now means I won't be able to get paid for my time doing this! Purification! Purification!' She was wailing now, casting her spell frantically. 'There was a cracking sound! The cage made a sound it shouldn't be making!'

The alligators only focused on her, never making eye contact with us as they threw themselves at the cage.

Darkness was murmured to herself while we all stared at the cage.

'Staying in that cage seems rather exciting...'

'...Don't even think about it.' Kazuma and I answered, denying the masochistic crusader.

Seven hours had passed since we began the quest. The sun was beginning to set, washing the beautiful landscape in an orangish hue. The cage was left alone now, the water crystal clear and its tormenting alligators gone. There were bite marks and gashes all over the cage, but no serious structural damage as the bars will be easily repaired.

Aqua had gone quiet for over an hour now, and we had grown concerned. Without much argument, we all agreed that she would receive the full 300,000 Eris from the quest.

We approached our curled up party member. She was crying while hugging her knees, and I felt a slight guilt run through me for how long we kept her here.

'Good girl, the purification is done. Let's go back, I've discussed with the others, and we won't take the reward this time. The 300,000 is all yours.' Kazuma said, lighting tugging on the bars to get her attention.

She had buried her face in her knees, so all we could see were her trembling shoulders.

But she didn't want to come out from the cage.

'Hey, it's time to come out of the cage, all the brutal alligators are gone.'

When she heard me, Aqua said something softly:

'...Like this..'

I barely heard her mumbling voice.

'What did she say?' I asked. Kazuma turned to me, motioning for Darkness and I to begin to bring the cage back out and onto the cart.

'...She said the world outside the cage is scary, so bring her back to town as she is.'

Another shot of guilt ran through me like a lance, and my resolve to make this quest up to her was strengthened by her shaking and murmuring.

We were back in town now, the sun setting at our backs. Aqua still refused to leave the cage, staring at us and any passersby with a thousand yard stare, saying nothing.

Kazuma leaned into the cage, speaking to her.

'Oi. Hey Aqua, we're already back in town, so can you stop staring at everyone? We're gathering a lot of attention just by dragging a battered cage with a woman hugging her knees inside. And it's safe back in town, so it's about time you come out.'

`Don't want to. This is my holy realm. The world outside is scary, so I don't think I'll be coming out for a while.' She responded, not even looking up. Aside from the minor damage to the cart, we were all fine. Disappointed that we didn't get to test our newly gained skills, Kazuma and I resolved that we were glad that the day was uneventful.

Something, someone, was approaching us. I had a dropping feeling in my gut, and motioned for us to stop. Not a second later did the person appear.

'G-Goddess-Sama! Is that really you? What are you doing in such a place?'

The man wore blue plate armor lined with gold, and carried an incredibly large sword on his back. He ran past us and to the cage, and with a grunt, he tore open the solid bars that protected Aqua from the monsters.

We all were stunned, unmoving as the man wrenched the bars open.

Darkness reacted first, grabbing his shoulder before he could reach Aqua.

'Hey, who are you? If she knew you, why isn't Aqua reacting at all?'

The man turned, and sighed. His demeanour screamed that he didn't want to cause any conflict, but he had no choice.

Kazuma went up to the cage and whispered to Aqua. A moment later, she stood up and out of her holy place, and eyed the man below her curiously.

She turned to me, her face curious.

'..Who is he?'

The man gasped in response, wide eyed.

'Why are you saying this, goddess-sama! It's me, Mitsurugi Kyouya! I received the magic sword, Gram, from you!'

She tilted her head the way a kid might at something they didn't understand, but I got a vague idea of the situation.

Kyouya was a reincarnate, like Kazuma and I, and had been sent here by Aqua not long ago. Standing in the sunlight, I got a better look at his face. He had brown hair and a bejeweled crown, and a face that of a japanese man.

Two women with red and green hair respectively approached from behind him a moment later, lightly dressed in leather armor.

Aqua was still confused, but slapped her head and stuttered out a response.

'A-Ah! Yes, there was such a person! Sorry, I totally forgot about you. I've sent a lot of people here, so it can't be helped if I forgot!'

'It's been a while, Aqua-sama. As your chosen hero, I've been working hard every day. My class is the Sword Master and I have already reached level 37' He said, proudly and smiling. 'Oh right, what are you doing here? Or rather, why were you locked in a cage?'

Kyouya stole glances at us, particularly Kazuma and I, and waited for a response.

'She didn't want to leave the cage after a quest.' I said, curtly. 'In fact, we would like to go turn that quest in now, so if you would please let us be-'

He cut me off, almost demanding to know why the goddess was down here in the first place.

Kazuma took the next few minutes or so explaining to him what happened after they were both brought to this world.

I was taller than him, so he stormed to Kazuma in anger and grabbed his collar in a righteous fury.

'You did what?! What were you thinking, bringing goddess-sama to this world? And you locked her in a cage and threw her in the lake for this quest?'

Aqua jumped down and restrained him hurriedly.

'You, what are you doing? This is fine, I'm living every day happily, and am not angry about being brought to this world! And I can go back after defeating the Demon King! Today's quest was a bit scary, but it was resolved smoothly. No one was hurt and the reward is 300,000. 300,000! And everyone said they would let me take all of it!'

I grabbed the stumbled Kazuma and hoisted him up, his resolve shaken. Kyouya looked at us then Aqua, pitifully, and said, 'Aqua-sama, I don't how this man talked you into this,' He glared at Kazuma in disdain, 'But you're being treated wrongly. After such a sacrifice, you only earned 300,000? You are a goddess! For a goddess to be treated this way is nigh heresy. Where do you stay at night?'

'The stables.' She said, without any hesitation.

He made to grab Kazuma's collar again, but I stopped him, snatching his hand. Darkness also stepped up, her face stoic and determined, and Megumin picked up and readied her upgraded staff.

Kyouya let go and backed away, looking at the 4 of us.

'Paladin, Crusader, Arch-Wizard, and Aqua-sama? They look decently leveled too. Seems that you had great luck in finding companions, but that doesn't make sense. Don't you feel ashamed in letting Aqua and these three excellent members sleep in the stables? You mentioned your job was the weakest, Adventurer, right?'

Kazuma and Aqua whispered again, his face contorting into anger as she spoke. Kyouya didn't notice, or care, and smiled at the 3 of us.

'It must have been hard for all of you. Please, join me and my party from now on. Of course, I won't let you all sleep in the stables, and will buy the full set of premium equipment for you. Myself as a Swordmaster, my Warrior comrade, Paladin, and Crusader as vanguard; along with my Thief comrade, this Arch-Wizard and Aqua-sama. It would be a team match made in heaven.' He said, smiling confidently.

Of course, it didn't include Kazuma.

We turned and talked amongst ourselves, discussing his proposition.

I flat out refused, citing his eagerness to remove Kazuma. Aqua and Darkness were repelled by his narcissistic nature and high-born attitude, also denying him. Megumin said nothing, beginning her incantation for _Explosion_.

We hurriedly stopped her.

Aqua tugged on my arm, and motioned for us to leave.

'Hey Bayard, let's hurry to the guild, okay? I might've been the one who gave him the powerful sword, but I think it would be better not to get too close with such people.'

I nodded, turning to Kazuma then to Misurugi.

'Well it looks like my companions don't seem keen to join your party. We still need to report the completion of the quest, so we'll take our leave, Sword Master.' I said humbly, and quickly.

'Please get out of the way.' Kazuma said, to the motionless Kyouya. He stood in the middle of the street, blocking their cart from moving.

'Pardon me, but Aqua-sama is the one who bestowed this sword to me. And watching my benefactor who granted me this power fall to such a state, I can't simply ignore it. You can't save the world, the one to defeat the Demon King will be me.' All of us winced at that, feeling the brunt of his arrogance. 'It would be better for Aqua-sama to follow me. You said that you chose Aqua as the item to be brought along to this world with you, correct?'

'Yes..'

'_Oh no.. Don't tell me he's going to-' _Kazuma's thoughts were cut off by Kyouya.

'If that's how it is, how about settling this through a duel? You chose Aqua-sama as the 'thing' to be brought along with you, right? If I win, you must give Aqua-sama to me; If you win, I can promise you one thing, anything.'

Kazuma panicked internally, he knew was nowhere near a duelists standard, but he couldn't afford to lose Aqua now, either.

Bayard stepped forward, unlocking his sword scabbard.

'Not him,' He said, his face grim and resolved unwavered. 'I will duel you, Kyouya.'

I grasped the hilt of my Xiphos, drawing it fully.

'To the death?'

He scowled. 'Of course not, to when the opponent cannot fight anymore.'

Before he could even begin, I lunged forward, swinging hard with both hands. He barely got his sword out in time, staggering as I pulled back and lunged again, making no defence stance. I hammered into him, again and again, keeping him on guard. A breath passed, I stabbed, he parried, I feinted another blow before he could swing back once, and struck again, forcing him to parry. His sword was giant, but it would still need a moment to swing.

I gave him no quarter, no breathing room. 2 seconds had passed.

I stabbed again, the shock running up my arm as it slammed into the flat blade.

I was in his face again, reeling from parry, and I casted _Smite_ wordlessly as he tried to gain distance. The radiant light shot out, enveloping him and causing his backpedal to stagger.

I lunged forward, but he reacted first. He single swipe from his sword, and my blade was gone, out of my one hand. The other hand carried my knife, and with my momentum carrying me forward my hand pushed into the bottom of the hilt.

A breath passed, and his knife was out as well, but not nearly ready enough. Shock washed over his face in a split second, and he thrust his knife out. The blade plunged deep into my right arm, carried further by my lunge. My knife stopped an inch away from his forehead, and his stopped as the hilt smashed into bone.

Another breath passed.

Blood shot out from the stab, and both of our party members finally reacted. The duel took only 5 seconds.

The weight and realization crashed down onto us then, his face losing color and horror washing over his noble features.

I screamed then, nerves catching alight as the blade embedded deep.

Aqua began to heal immediately, the knife dropped to the street a moment later. Kyouya picked it up and sheathed it. I repeated the motion with my free arm.

'Well then,' I said, wincing in searing pain, 'I think we'll call it a draw, then?'

He stared at me, dumbstruck. The others were silent as well, then a chorus of shouts rang out from both groups. My mind numbing from the pain, the voices melted into one cry of '_No!'._

Kyouya stared, then shook his head, smiling. 'Agreed, but I think the next time there won't be a draw.'

'W-Why?!'

Aqua's voice rang out in the guild. She was grabbing one of the staff members with tearful eyes, and shouted again.

'How many times do I have to tell you, the cage I borrowed from wasn't damaged by me! It was that Mitsurugi guy who bent the bars! Why do I have to pay for it?!'

We went to the guild after I was healed, eager to turn in for the day. He had agreed that since it was a draw, nothing would happen with the conditions he put forth.

Because Kyouya had broken the bars, Aqua would have to pay for the damage done, reducing the reward significantly. Eventually she gave in, and took the measly reward. With heavy footsteps, she sat down at our table, and told us that it was 200,000 Eris deducted from the 300,000 reward.

We simply shrugged, and continued eating our dinner.

I slept restlessly that night, waking up with a cold sweat more times than I could count. Eventually I stayed up, sharpening my sword with a small kit, wordlessly mouthing a prayer I didn't recognize.

Something else kept me up that night. Tomorrow will be the day that Darkness was supposed to die, and while the curse was broken prematurely, Beldia would come.

That, I had no doubt.

The next day, we were back in the guild, eating, talking, and looking for quests. Darkness and Megumin arrived, the door closing behind them, and walked to us. Sitting down, Darkness looked at Aqua and asked, 'By the way, that Kyouya guy kept calling Aqua a goddess, why is that?'

Kazuma, Aqua, and I all looked at each other. We both shrugged.

The goddess in question stopped feasting on a pair of fatty frog legs, and stood up.

Aqua then faced Darkness and Megumin with a rare, serious, expression.

'I've never told you this before, but I'm Aqua, the patron goddess of the Axis Cult, goddess of water!'

'So, that's the backstory you're going by?' They said, voice deadpanned and flat.

'That's wrong! And why did both of you say the same thing?!'

I chuckled lightly, and before I could make a snarky remark to Aqua, I was cut off by the piercing public announcement voice.

'Emergency! Emergency! Attention all adventurers, please prepare your equipment and gather at the town's main gate, ready for battle! Adventurer Satou Kazuma and his party in particular are requested immediately!'

My gut dropped, and my fears were realizing themselves.

We rose silently, and along with everyone else in the guild, made our way to the front gates.

He stood upon the same rock as before, reeking of corrupted mana, and stared at the gathered Adventurers. Behind him stood a gathering of Undead Knights, their necrotic plate shining in the sunlight, and their rusted weapons at the ready.

Beldia roared when he saw us.

'Why didn't you come and face me? You inhuman bastards, letting your party member die like that!'

Kazuma walked in front of us, and shouted at the Dullahan.

'Just because you told us to come, doesn't mean we will. Besides, why are you so angry? We stopped the explosion-'

He got more furious, slamming his sword into the ground.

'A Liar, and a heartless bastard?! What is with you and this city? That crazy girl still visited every day and casted her damnable magic!'

Kazuma whipped around stared at Megumin beside him. She averted her eyes immediately.

His voice was cold. '...Did you do this? Did you still go to the castle after we told you not to?'

'Y-Yes. Wait! Stop!' She grabbed his hands before they could strangle her, 'Listen to me, I was satisfied with casting _Explosion _on an open plain, but that castle was too alluring! You have to understand, Kazuma!'

He sighed, and rubbed his eyes, annoyed.

'You can't move around after casting, so you must've had an accomplice, right?'

Aqua averted her eyes from his. Much of the same repeated, Aqua hurriedly explaining herself as to why she helped Megumin.

'It is not the explosion magic that brought me here, but that you left your Crusader to die! Don't you all have the will to save your comrade? I might be this way now, but before I was executed because of unjust reasons and morphed into a monster, I was an honourable knight. That Crusader who was cursed while protecting her companions was the classic model of a knight, and you abandoned her to the wolves of hell!'

Darkness appeared a moment later, standing stoically and saying nothing.

I expected him to yell out in confusion, but instead he said nothing, raised his hand, and casted a spell. A purple ward appeared, and hundreds of Undead, similar to the ones I faced in the church, rose from the ground.

'I understand now. Kill them all, except for the blue Arch-Priest, I will pick my answers from the ashes of this city.'

He pointed his sword at us, and the Undead charged.

I, along with most of the Adventurers, readied their weapons. Priests began incantations, warriors rushed to the front to brace against the assault, our party did the same. The weaker Undead reached us first, the knights staying behind.

It was horrible.

Men screamed as they died, surrounded and cut apart by rusted blades and bones. The smell assaulted my senses, blood was everywhere, sweat, bowels, everything. It was viscera. I casted _Smite _at the ones approaching us, catching them alight in holy flame. Kazuma and I cut down any that got past the first line, Darkness rushed into the middle, sword swinging.

She hit nothing, but her wild attacks made the Undead keep their distance. Aqua was everywhere, casting healing spells, breaking curses, Smiting any Undead who got close. Wherever she went, Undead followed her. I stabbed forward, tearing into the rotting flesh, slashing, cutting, casting, everything I could do to kill them. Darkness rushed forward again, and I shouted.

'No! Wait, No!'

I ran after her. She was almost enjoying herself, the attacks bouncing off of her armor harmlessly. My sword rose and fell, again and again, cutting down anything that got close. I was bleeding now, various cuts tore across my body, but the instinct to survive had overridden any small pain.

Another horde rushed at us, and Kazuma yelled for me. He explained to me his plan, that Aqua would bait the Undead away from us and out into the field, where Megumin could cast _Explosion_.

I nodded, and ran to grab our goddess.

The horde followed, Aqua shouting curses as more joined the chase. Kazuma guarded Megumin to a raised area, and began to chant.

The sky darkened, and the sounds of death, screaming, and weapons clanging silenced for a moment as if sucked into a void. Rings of light appeared, and palpable mana gathered around Megumin. With a voice barely heard at the distance she was at, a lance of light shot down from the heavens and crashed into the tightly packed mob, incinerating the Undead. The shock wave stumbled most of us, and our Arch-Wizard collapsed from the spell, carried away by Kazuma.

Aqua rose not far from the blast crater, and sprinted back to the safety of our lines. Adventurers began to shout premature victory cries, relieved that most of the immediate threat was gone.

Beldia said nothing, taking up his sword, and walking to us. Some of the Fighters, Crusaders, and Barbarians rushed out to surround him, intent on taking him down.

'Oh? My targets are those two,' He pointed at Megumin and Kazuma, 'But if you wish to die now, then so be it.'

They rushed him, and Beldia threw his head into the air. The first one that reached him leapt up to strike with an axe, and was parried and cut in two by the Dullahan. The rest surrounded him, keeping their distance after the first fighter was killed. He blocked every strike or stab, parrying and slashing. Sweeping in a wide arc, he lunged forward and cut two more down before they could react. He was a blur now, cutting and stabbing the remaining Adventurers, butchering them in seconds.

Much of the line broke, some wept, some ran, but most stood in fear. A murmur started, turning into a chorus of shouts, all screaming for one person, one name. 'W-Wait, we can still beat him! We have the ace in city, Mitsurugi! The sword master will come and we'll be saved!'

Beldia's head fell back into one hand, the other carried his greatsword. Darkness stood before us, sword raised.

'So you're my next opponent?'

The feeling returned, and my limbs felt numb. I began to walk forward, deaf to the shouts of warning coming from Kazuma behind me.

Darkness was losing, her armor was cracking already, and her sword swung uselessly. Her face was beet red however, no doubt her erotic shouting fell onto deaf ears. A swing fell, and she was blasted back, sword flung to my feet.

Feeling was returning to my numb fingers, and I grasped the sword. My skin was burning, and my eyes felt alight. The sword was as beautiful as I remembered, gilded gold and ornaments glinted in the sunlight.

Beldia did not take a step back, but he ready his sword, changing targets from Darkness to me.

I dropped my sheathed Xiphos, and readied the Longsword in both hands.

'Come!' I shouted, in a chorus of voices not my own, 'Show me what passes for fury amongst your misbegotten kind!'

I charged the Dullahan. My first swing fell with a radiance of light, my second burned brighter. He struck back, the blow parried by the sword. I casted _Smite _onto the blade and struck hard, the sword smashing into a near instantaneously appeared block.

I faced away for a moment, and shouted at Kazuma in voices unfamiliar to me.

'Go! Find a weakness! I will buy you time, so get her out of here!'

He came at me again, and I rolled, rising in a duelists stance.

Beldia was killing me.

Darkness managed to retreat along with the other two, but before they could join in to help me, the Undead knights attacked, forcing them back to the main group. Megumin had been set up on a ledge over viewing our fight, and the rest helped to defeat the remaining knights.

The shock from strikes had made my arms sore and numb, but I was on the defensive now. Every stab or swipe I made at him was easily parried, and I had gotten the feeling that he wasn't taking the fight seriously.

He was toying with me, almost enjoying a real duel. He hadn't thrown his head into the air yet, making it a viable weakness.

But I was dying, and there was little I could do. I dodged a stab, and lunged forward to strike at his waist. He parried easily, but my sword rode down his and I got a split second opening. Channeling _Smite _into the blade, I thrust forward at his shoulder.

He couldn't block the strike, so he turned his body away and allowed the blade to stab into the breastplate armor. He howled in pain, and stared at me in rage. Tearing the blade out, he swatted at me with the flat of his blade, smashing into my chest and sending me flying.

I heard a cry ring out from behind me, but I didn't know who it was as the Dullahan closed the distance in an instant. I was barely able to bring the blade up in time to block a killing swing.

We went back and forth for awhile, but I was getting exhausted, and my parries were sloppy. Panting hard, I managed to gain some distance, stabbing the sword into the ground and trying to breath air into my overworked lungs. Do or die, the next few bouts will decide this duel. I rose, my arms shaking and my body was covered in sweat.

I expected him to charge again, but instead he held his sword out, and muttered as his hand casted a spell upon the sword. A black miasma covered the blade, and he readied himself again.

I smiled to myself, and casted _Smite _onto the blade, mirroring his stance. I strangely felt no fear at all, almost as if it was nullified once she added her presence.

'_If I die,' _I thought, '_Atleast I bought them vital time with my life.' _

We charged each other, a storm of strikes and blocks, of stabs and ripostes as we each tried to get an opening to slay the other.

I stepped back, and he lunged forward instinctively, shoulder unprotected. I stabbed the sword out, with all my remaining strength, and aimed for his head. The blade flew true but he tilted and my sword shot into his waist.

To have the chance to kill him, I had to open myself to be able to be attacked.

Darkness's sword flew out of my hand and I tumbled backwards, the _Smite _backblast stumbling us both.

I rose and ran for the sword, but he reacted faster.

As my hand grasped the hilt, I whipped around to see him plummeting towards me, eyes flaring.

The sword was sticking out of my back. I heard a cry, no multiple, a chorus of shouts and wails as he stabbed deep into my chest.

He leaned forward, ripping the sword out, and said to me a single phrase.

'That's what fury is, Templar.'

I fell to my knees, her presence leaving me. I felt everything at once, the mind numbing pain of the open wound and the exhaustion of fighting him.

I heard more shouts, more cries, all shouting to get up, to stay alive just a little longer. My hand touched my chest and was coated in sanguine color immediately. I gurgled up more blood, as it was already pooling fast below me. My vision was fading red, darkness enclosing around me.

I felt cold.

I heard more shouts now, more recognizable. It was Megumin and some of the others, but I do not know who.

I tried to turn to see them, before I died, but I was too weak, too exhausted.

I was only able to breath out one word, barely above a whisper.

I collapsed, the weight of my mail pulling me to the pool of blood with a wet clang.

In truth, I was dead before I hit the ground.

I was in the checkered room once more, standing before the sitting Eris. She summoned a simple white chair. I sat, facing her. She looked unreadable, her face stoic.

'Before I begin, I just want to say I'm sorry. What I am about to tell you will be… heavy. So just tell me when you are ready.'

I waited a moment, and responded. 'Okay, Begin.'

And so she did.

And so I wept.


	7. Chapter 6, Return

Chapter 6, Return

Aqua sighed, and stood up.

'That should be everyone, right?' She yelled out to Kazuma, who looked strangely panicked.

'Y-Yeah! Hurry up and get over here, somethings wrong with Bayard!'

The plan had gone smoothly, with Beldia distracted by the Paladin, they learned that water was a Dullahans weakness. All the available mages had casted water magic, and Aqua called down one of the largest known water spells, _Sacred Create Water, _to drown the Dullahan.

She also flooded half of the city.

Many of the Adventurers suffered injuries, and many more died to the onslaught of undead hordes or knights. All, including the butchered pair slain by Beldia, were revived successfully by Aqua and a cohort of high leveled Priests.

She came over the hill, and saw the gathering of Adventurers surrounding the bloodied Paladins body. Her unease grew as shouting began from the Priests.

The rest of the party spotted Aqua, and rushed her forward to the now cold body of Bayard.

'_Heal!' _

Nothing.

The Priests turned to her, color leaving their faces.

'We tried that already, nothing we have is working!'

Aqua frowned, and concentrated on the spell.

'_Sacred Revival!'_

Motes of light appeared around Aqua and her hands, before suddenly blinking out all at once.

Aqua tried again, and again.

A minute passed, her voice growing more frantic and breaking.

She rose then, face grimaced into a cold stare that wouldn't belong on a goddesses face.

'..He's gone. It's like can't reach his soul.' She turned and looked at him, and the party. 'Take him to the morgue, clean the wounds, and prepare for a burial. He deserves that, at least.'

The rest dispersed soon after, taking his corpse and those still injured to the church.

They all were crushed. Megumin, Darkness, and many of the spare Adventurers had witnessed most of the fight, crying out when he finally died. Kazuma remained silent then, only really speaking when spoken to.

She walked out to the field, finally finding the sword that had been used in the fight. Taking the longsword into her hands, she inspected the near-perfect blade. A tear fell from Darkness's face, falling onto the sword in a small rain.

She sheathed the sword silently, and walked back to the city.

Kazuma slowly drank from his tankard, barely sipping the ale. He was tired, devastated, and truly wanted to go home.

'_But to where?' _He thought to himself.

Right after the fight, most people went to the local church to receive additional healing, or to check on wounded party members. The rest simply went to bed early, exhausted from the fight.

It was universally decided that they would celebrate tomorrow.

Everyone around him was drunk, drinking heavily in a victory high, and to remember the dead Paladin who gave his life buying time.

Aqua was already floored, snoring peacefully on the bench next to him. Megumin had fled once they were shown the bill to repair the water damage caused by Aqua, leaving just the 3 of them to drink in silence. Darkness said nothing for most of the day, much like Kazuma, and mourned by drinking silently.

Bayard did not die peacefully, but they found his face calm, not contorted in terror.

He would be buried soon, the costs paid by the guild.

Kazuma took another sip, resolving himself.

'_This world is brutal,' _He thought, '_We can't let ourselves be careless now. Not after what happened.' _

Setting the tankard down gently, he left the guild without saying a word.

He wouldn't let others see his tears, shining like gems in the moonlight.

I ran.

I ran faster than I thought possible, my legs pumping like pistons, propelling me forward.

I turned, whipping around the wall, sword in hand.

A horrible, wet screech sounded nearby.

'_It's close.'_ I thought.

Turning a corner without breaking stride, I leapt forward with my blade thrust out, like a lance in the night sky.

The thing, a horribly necrotic arachnid, clicked its tendrils in fear. The radiant sword plunged deep into his shell with a bone crunching _Crack!, _blood bubbling up.

I pulled the sword away, dodging a sluggish swipe, and readied myself again.

In the plains, far away from town. Snow glittered like diamonds, a hard frost caked most of the road.

Kazuma trudged on, boots digging deep into the padded ground. Snow sprites were the cause of all this snow, and they were the target for the days quest. '_100,000 Eris each,' _The bounty had said.

He turned, looking at his party behind him. They all were wearing recently bought cold weather gear, padded and thick to protect against the harsh winds.

Darkness still wore the black clothing, her armor currently under repairs.

After seeing how Darkness was left relatively unscathed after Beldia, Kazuma had no doubt that she was still the most well defended party member.

He shook his head, his thoughts drifting to the dead party member.

It had already been a few days since then, but the wound was still too fresh to talk about openly.

'We should be there soon. There's only snow sprites here, right?' Kazuma asked.

Aqua nodded, her empty vials and jars shaking with the motion. She was going to capture some of the sprites to make a fridge, constantly chilling drinks for her.

Kazuma had simply been too tired to argue, and said nothing.

The snow sprites had been easy to kill, a single strike from his sword was enough to bring them down. Aqua ran around like a kid, trying to catch insects in the summer.

'Megumin! Cast it, now!'

'Got it!' She yelled back, almost shaking with excitement.

The _Explosion_ wiped out nearly 2 dozen, a small crater forming where the spell hit.

'_Ha! This isn't so bad, I think the rest of the day will be easy..' _He thought.

Ah.

'So, what happened after?' He asked Eris.

Kazuma was remembering the rest of it, how the Winter Shogun appeared.

Darkness's sword was cut in half easily, and their only trump card had just used her only spell.

'Quickly, quickly prostrate yourselves! The Shogun is a forgiving being!' Aqua shouted.

Kazuma had tried, and failed, to push the panting erotic crusader down. Panicking, he threw his sword to the ground, head facing upward.

A single, quick, swipe, and he was already dead. Blood shot up from the headless corpse, painting part of Darkness and the snow red.

'The Winter Shogun disappeared after cutting you down, no harm came to your party members.' Eris said, eyes looking downward, sorrowful.

Kazuma sighed in relief, sitting back in the chair.

'Satou Kazuma-san. You came from peaceful Japan and encountered a horrible life like this. Brave soul who came from another world, I will use my power to let you reincarnate into a peaceful Japanese family, wealthy and living a free life.'

He thought for a moment, hand holding his chin. He thought about the time he had with them. It was short, true, but it was a happy time. Leaving now would make him.. _Lonely_.

'Hurry and come back Kazuma! How can you be killed off so easily in such a place! It's too early for you to die!'

I suddenly heard Aqua's pleading voice.

The sound echoed throughout the place where only Eris and I were.

'Kazuma, can you hear me? I have cast _Resurrection_ on your body, you can come back now. There's a goddess before you, right? Ask that girl to open the gate back here.'

'Okay, wait for me, Aqua! I'll be right there!'

He wasn't sure if his voice would reach her, but Kazuma still shouted into the void and jumped up happily.

'Hold on, wait a minute! No, no, I'm sorry, you've already been revived once. By the laws of the heavens, you can't be resurrected again! The other side can't hear us, unless Aqua-senpai is connected to your voice. Could you help me pass along the message?' Eris said in a panic.

'Hey, Aqua, can you hear me!? Eris said that I've already been revived once, so I can't be revived again because of some rules in heaven!'

He shouted into the void.

Followed by a moment of silence, Aqua's voice boomed again.

'Eris?! Don't tell me you're the one keeping that Paladin from being revived again! I knew you had something to do with him, your smell was all over Bayard!

Eris panicked further, facing turning beet red as she backed away in shock.

'Listen Kazuma, if she continues, just-'

The goddess in front of him quickly cut off the goddess speaking.

'I get it, I get it! I'll make an exception this time!'

A ward appeared, slowly moving with light radiating out.

'Wait, before I go. What do you have to do with Bayard?' Kazuma asked, anticipation building in his throat.

'He's a different case, and I swear to you that I'm not the one keeping him from being revived. A curse from Beldia burdens on his soul, but..' She continued, quietly explaining to him.

Finished, the goddess who had a sorrowful look in her eyes scratched her cheek. Finally, she closed one eye like a playful kid and said in a soft, cheerful voice, 'Please keep this a secret, okay?'

Kazuma smiled awkwardly as he stepped into the shifting ward.

He could hear a sound from the distance.

' -zuma! Kazuma, get up! Kazuma!'

Megumin was lying on him, sobbing.

Shifting his gaze to the right, Kazuma could see Darkness by his side, down on one knee as she held his hand in her hands. Her eyes seemed to be closed in prayer similar to what Bayard would wordlessly mouth.

He could feel breathing at the top of his head, and looked that way.

Aqua met his eyes. Rising, she had an air of satisfaction after reviving him. Noticing that he was awake, Megumin and Darkness wordlessly gave Kazuma a tight hug. He saw the blood on her face, and the sanguine color painting most of the snow where he once was.

Walking back to Axel, supported by Darkness after losing so much blood, Kazuma remembered and thought on what Eris told him.

'Oi, Aqua, all of you.'

They didn't stop walking, but turned their heads to him.

'We might have a way to get his soul back.'

Kazuma explained to them what Eris had told him, a plan forming in the back of his mind.

'Come! Let us show our fury, in the name of the Emperor!' I shouted.

'In the name of the Emperor!' They shouted back.

We charged, footfalls breaking apart fleshless bones or charred corpses.

We were shouting, howling prayers and oaths of destruction, a chorus of barks from helmet grills.

I was the first one to reach the enemy. Axe burning bright, I slammed into the beast, digging deep into its crimson armor. A fellow battle brother was just a step behind, his sword slicing clean through one of the enemies veterans. My axe rose and fell methodically, ending lives as we powered through their lines. Battle brothers charged again and again, sometimes successful and tearing into open flanks.

Sometimes not.

I saw it too late to react, to shout out to him. The projectile shot past me and slammed into his helmet, blowing out the back in a splatter of gore. One of the crimson warriors gained the upper hand on a fellow brother, his gnarled and bladed fist pulping the black chestplate. He died silently.

Hours passed, and our numbers slowly dwindled. But for each one of us that fell, we took hundreds of their number. My arms burned from the constant fighting, but I ignored it, I had to, as another crimson plated warrior lunged at me. My pistol barked once, shooting deep into its thigh. It crumpled, hands raised almost as if begging for mercy.

I shot it again, ending the life wordlessly; not breaking marching stride.

24 hours passed, but the sun never set on this land.

'Ah! Brother, you've arrived. Now we may begin the cleansing.' The Castellan said to me. Scars tore across his face, ruining once what would have been beautiful features. Deep etching of prayer, oaths to the undying Emperor, snaked across his shaved head. Studs were bolted into his head, marking him as serving for nearly 6 centuries. He stood fully, black armor covered in white tabard moving with the motion of the hundreds of battle brothers. Sword stuck into the ground, he looked like-

He looked like Bayard. Like me.

I shook my head, regaining my senses as I responded.

The enemy made themselves known a few moments later, a sea of crimson swarmed to us.

'It seems they intend to face us here, brothers! Give them no quarter. No pity, No remorse, No fear!'

Our brethren mirrored him, swords raised as they charged into the tide of crimson.

'No pity, No Remorse, No-'

I never finished the shout.

One of their projectiles shot true, ending my life as my body fell forward with the motion. My last sight was one of the younger brothers, a warrior in training, taking my ancient axe. He charged with the rest of them, howling in rage chorused by all of my brethren in black.

A life led over millennia ended on that world.

Or was it a week?

A day?

How long has it been?

I suddenly felt disconnected, no longer feeling _anything_. Memories rushed to me, of my life, of them, of my death.

Of Eris telling me that my soul was lost, that heaven had no direct control anymore.

Panic and sensation rushed to my throat, a familiar feeling now, and I stifled vomiting for I had nothing to throw up. I was scared. I was simply, _scared_.

'Eris, where are you? Where am I going?'

My vision blurred, and I saw a realm of fire. Of ash and mountains.

Of hell.

'Oi, say that again.'

It was a few days after the beheading in the snow. Kazuma had rested since then, the loss of blood had nearly exhausted him immediately.

Fast forward to today. Kazuma was prohibited from strenuous activities, so he was looking for simple quests on the bulletin board, such as carrying luggage–

'I can say it as many times as you want. You mentioned a luggage-carrying quest? In a party full of high-tier job members, can't you take on a harder quest? You're the dead weight holding them back, the man with the weakest job, right?'

The man dressed like a warrior said as his companions at a table laughed with him.

'_I have to bear with it,' _Kazuma thought, '_I can handle this, even if some of what he says is true.'_

But, that man thought I was afraid of him because I kept quiet.

'Hey, say something, Adventurer. Really, bringing three pretty ladies around, are you planning to create a harem? And all of them have top-tier jobs so you gotta be creating wonderful memories everyday with these onee-sans, right?'

Hearing this, the guild exploded in laughter.

But there were some who knew of our exploits. They were frowning and trying to warn the man.

Kazuma couldn't help clenching his fists, but felt that with these people in the crowd, it would be easy to get over this.

Megumin, Darkness, and Aqua came over to encourage him.

'Kazuma, don't bother with them. I won't mind no matter what they say about me.'

'That's right Kazuma, ignore those drunkards.'

'Yeah, that man is just jealous that Kazuma has us. I don't mind, so just leave them be.'

The man was just a typical troublemaker, one that reminded Kazuma of a Manga was no need to be concerned with him. He grit his teeth, but the next sentence from the man made him lose a bit temper.

'Being surrounded by top-tier classes is so blissful. How envious it is to not know suffering! How about switching places with me, bro?'

'I'll gladly switch!'

Kazuma shouted out loud, slamming his fists into the table.

The adventurer's guild turned silent again.

The man who was harassing him held his beer with one hand, and made an awkward sound.

'I said that I would switch with you! Hey, you think I'm a pushover because I didn't say anything, right? Ah, that's right, I have the weakest job! I'm fine with that, but you? What did you say after that?'

"Ka-Kazuma?"

Aqua timidly approached him after the sudden outburst.

But the man, who backed off a few feet, spoke before she could say anything more.

'After that part? Uh, bringing three pretty ladies and creating a harem..'

He slammed his fist on the table again..

The sound made everyone in the guild tremble.

'Pretty ladies, huh? Harem?! You said harem! Hey, are those things in your eye sockets made from glass?' Kazuma's voice begins to crack, 'Where are the pretty ladies?! My eyes are bad and can't see any pretty ladies, all right! Why don't you change your glass eyes with my lousy ones!'

'Ah, W-Wait hold on a m-minute, huh?'

Kazuma made to grab the man by the collar, when a timid voice came from behind him.

'Well.. About that..'

That was the soft voice of Aqua, who was representing the three of them, raising her hand.

He ignored her, and carried on.

'And after that? Being surrounded by top-tier classes is so blissful? How envious it is to not know suffering?'

'..Uh, well, sorry.. The alcohol got to my head..But! The grass might look greener on the other side, but your situation is better! You said you want to change with me, right? Just one day. How about just switching with me for one adventure? Hey, you guys are fine with that, right?'

The man whose collar was grabbed by Kazuma turned to his companions for confirmation.

'I-I'm fine with that… The quest today is just hunting goblins.'

'I'm okay with it too. But Dust, don't say you don't want to rejoin the party because it's too comfortable there, all right?'

'I have no problems, either. Even with a rookie, the goblins are no big deal. As compensation, I hope you bring some great stories back.'

Each one responded as they turned and discussed amongst themselves.

'Hey, Kazuma. You guys seemed to be chatting happily, but aren't you going to ask for our opinion?'

'No.' He said, curtly. Kazuma turned to his new companions. 'Hello, my name is Kazuma. It might just be one day, but please take care of me.'

The three companions simply nodded to him.

A few minutes before they would make to leave, Kazuma returned to his original party members.

'Ah, you're back already, hm? Well, we might consider hearing you out-'

'That's not it, Aqua. You all remembered to bring your white soapstone, right?' Saying that, Kazuma produced a dagger like quartz, part of it wrapped in cloth.

The others repeated him, each showing their own soapstone, its surface murky white.

Eris had explained to him, and he in turn explained to the rest of them, that Bayard's soul could possibly be found at a warp gate and returned to the world. However, they would need something to act as a beacon of light to, '_Show the way for wayward lost souls…' _as Eris put it.

Visiting Wiz's shop, they found these white soapstones that could produce a light for souls, allowing them to pass through the gates.

However, these gates shift daily, no single one ever remaining in a known spot for long.

Thus, as Kazuma returned to Dust's group to leave for the quest, the plan would simply be to have these stones on your person, and hope that he would return.

They didn't have the luxury of options, so the 4 placed their hopes into this plan.

As they left the city, the tall man in a heavy set of armor sized Kazuma up, and introduced himself.

'I'm Taylor. I'm proficient with a one-handed sword, as well as being a Crusader. I'm the leader of this party, so even though It's just temporary, you're still part of our team. Please listen to my instructions when I give them, all right?'

'Of course. I was always the one issuing the orders for my previous party, following your instructions should be a refreshing experience. Please make use of me.'

Taylor seemed shocked to hear what Kazuma said.

'What? That party of top-tier jobs is led by an adventurer?'

'That's correct.'

The girl in front of them played with the string of her hoodie as she introduced herself.

'I'm Lynn.' She stopped playing and summoned a small flame on her finger. 'As you can see, I'm a mage and can use Intermediate Magic. Anyway, nice to meet you. And don't worry so much, Goblins are a piece of cake!'

Kazuma turned to the last one, a lanky man with a bow on his back.

'I'm Keith, an Archer. I'm confident with sniping. Anyway, pleased to meet you.'

The lean man finished curtly with a sly smile.

'I'll be in everyone's care. I'm Kazuma. My job is adventurer... Eh, should I talk about things I'm good at?'

The three of them burst out in laughter.

'No, no need. By the way, weren't you looking for an easy quest? Kazuma, just help us with our bags. A simple quest of hunting goblins will be fine with just the three of us. Don't worry, the bounty will be split equally four ways.'

They made their way out of the city and onto the plains, leisurely walking across the grass sea.

The goblins they were hunting would be at the foot of the mountains, most likely in wooden defences outside of caves. 20,000 Eris would be given per goblin killed, and these encampments could harbor anywhere from a couple dozen to hundreds, depending on the time of year and circumstance.

'_I didn't know how strong the goblins were, but they had to be easy since Lynn said so. Also, I get a share of the reward just by following behind these three with their bags.' _

Kazuma slowed his pace, smiling to himself.

'_This is great!'_

Keith wiped his forehead, the soreness in his arms causing him to wince. 'Kazuma, Kazuma! How many more are there?'

Kazuma ran to him and slammed into the rock wall next to him, ash and dust covering his young face. His short sword was coated in goblin blood.

'_Enemy Detect _is pinging another 5, 2 to the left, 2 directly in front, and another in the trees.'

Keith cursed, his voice breaking. Nocking another arrow, he whipped around the cover. The first arrow flew true, striking the goblin directly in its neck, corrupted blood spilling out. The next arrow wasn't a direct kill, but it dig deep into the unprotected chest.

'A-Aha! I don't think that one will be walking ho-Urk!'

One of the goblin archers, hidden in a tree, let loose a flurry of primitive arrows, one of them striking Keith's abdomen.

Yelping in pain, he nocked another arrow.

'_Snipe.'_

The tree goblin was launched away from its branch, head caved in.

The remaining two goblins rushed them, shouting and cursing in fear and rage. Kazuma stepped forward, hands shaking from fear and excitement. The first swiped at him in a wide swing, its rusted scimitar just barely missing Kazuma. He lunged forward, skewering his lightly clothed chest. The second goblin struck his knee hard with its club, giggling with glee as the leg buckled. Kazuma lashed out with his sword, the blade cutting a wide gash across its belly, awful smelling bowels spilling out.

The goblin howled in pain, dead as it keeled over.

'I think that's the last of them.. Where's Taylor? And Lynn?' Keith asked.

'I saw Lynn get knocked out cold by a rock when they ambushed us, I don't know what happened to them then.'

Panic washed over Keith's exhausted face, eyes widening in fear.

They found the two not long after, Taylor covered in blood, shield protecting the still unconscious Lynn. He nearly struck them as they approached, only stopping at the frantic shouts from Kazuma.

'W-We thought you were dead when we got split up.. How did they do that, anyways?' Keith said, sitting down and washing his face with water.

Taylor, much repeating the same motion, responded to the Archer.

'The damned goblins sprung a dozen traps on us, I think. Lynn panicked and a goblin got a lucky shot off with his sling. They rushed us then, cutting us off. I thought you dead men once you both ran for higher ground, a sea of green following you.'

Kazuma was about to respond, when he felt a sudden warmth to his side. He quickly unbuckled the pouch, and produced the white soapstone.

It was faintly glowing, its murky surface warm to the touch.

'Oi, what's that? I saw you and your friends take those out at the guild, mind explaining what they are?'

Kazuma hastily explained that it was a summoning stone, and would shine when ready to summon.

'_It's not entirely a lie..'_ He thought, standing up and looking around the valley they were ambushed in.

Lynn began to shift, murmuring incomprehensibly. Taylor rushed to her side, eyes beginning to open.

'How many more should there be?'

'There's usually a hobgoblin leading them, and probably another dozen guarding it. Don't tell me you're getting cold feet already..'

Kazuma shook his head, walking to the cave where most of the goblins came out of.

A faint white light was radiating out of it, followed by screams and yells.

He rushed back down to the valley, running to the resting group. Lynn was awake now, a small lump on her head where she was struck. Shoving down the urge to throw up from the sudden sprint, Kazuma quickly explained what he saw.

'Yea, that sounds like the hob cave..' Lynn said, wrapping a small bandage around the wounded Keith.

'Though it is a bit strange for so much yelling to come from them, maybe an animal used for traps got out? If more of them die, its less for us to deal with.'

Kazuma was about to rebuke her, before stopping. He sat down, a wave of exhaustion washing over him from the fighting.

'How about we rest and heal for a bit, then we'll go check it out, alright?' Taylor said, handing him a small flask of water.

Kazuma said nothing, taking a sip from the water and nodding thanks to him.

They cleaned their weapons, Lynn using minor healing magic to close wounds that the medical kit couldn't, and regained their strength. Looking at the Adventurer cards showed that they killed twenty one goblins in total, each raising them a level or two.

Kazuma put his skill point into a basic healing spell used by Lynn, casting it upon a small gash on Taylors head. The wound closed immediately, and the three stared at him.

'You.. Just learnt that?'

'Mhm, I can learn any spell or skill just by viewing it, albeit at a higher cost and weaker output.'

They stared at him in silence again. He simply shrugged, smirking to himself.

When they finally walked to the cave, they heard nothing. The silence was deafening. Goblin blood had ran a thin river through the cave, confirming their suspicions that whatever attacked them, slaughtered the hob and its guards.

They found the bodies soon after, most butchered and bloodied. The hobgoblin laid splayed out, blood running fresh.

Fear sank into them, for whatever could mercilessly kill these creatures, could pose a real threat to the four.

'Oi, K-Kazuma..' Lynn said, 'That light over there looks kind of like that soapstone light. Is that it?'

He turned, looking to where she pointed. It was a set of writing completely unfamiliar to him, but it radiated the same warm light as the stone. He walked to it, the stone in his hand. Kazuma waved it over the writing, the light increasing before blinking out.

_Enemy Detect _pinged him.

'I got 2 enemies coming,' He said, turning to Taylor. 'Approaching fast..'

The wall next to them blew out, stone shrapnel pricking all of them.

'U-Undead Knights!'

Three figures walked into the room, malefic mana palpable as they approached. They wore black full plate, its design crude and dented. The first one engaged Taylor, its black blade smashing against the Crusader's. Keith moved back, nocking and letting loose a flurry of arrows.

All struck useless against the knight's black and gold shields.

Taylors shield barely blocked their devastating sword blows, his feet digging deep into the cave floor.

Kazuma drew his short sword as Lynn prepared a spell.

'_Firebolt!' _

The lead Knight simply held his shield out, the fire washing out on its blackened surface. Fear held Kazuma in place, unable to move his legs he watched as their resolve slowly dissolved.

kazuma's face was contorted in fear, unable to do anything when the Knight came to him. It battered him away with its shield, Kazuma slamming on the cave wall.

'_This is it.' _He thought, blood running down his head. '_This is how we die.'_

His vision blurred, his hearing reduced to near nothing as the screams of shouts and cries melted to one sound.

'_Smite!' _

He managed to open one eye.

One of the Knights writhed in pain, dropping his sword.

Someone picked it up.

The person thrust forward, the black flamberge like blade emerging on the other side of the knight.

He walked forward, decapitating the Knight in a single swipe.

'There you are. Come to me, Demons! Show me your wrath! '

The man lunged forward, dodging a stab from one of the Knights. He slashed upward, digging deep into its gut. The Knight was brought to its knees. He spun, the flamberge blade separating its helmeted head off. Black blood fountained out for a moment, the armored body falling to the ground.

He changed his stance, holding the blade out as the final Knight approached. The Knight struck, the black shield held to the side. The man rolled under the blade, whipping around and stabbing at the unprotected back. The Knight gurgled out black blood from its helmet, turning its head to the man.

He swung, removing the head.

'K-Kazuma?'

The man approached, dropping the sword and picking Kazuma up.

He said nothing, tears running down his face.

The man hugged him tightly, silently weeping.

'I thought you dead, Bayard. We all did.'

Bayard cried harder, bear hugging Kazuma.

I had spotted the light when I was in hell, the unmistakable warmth a cold difference to the ash and fire of that realm. I entered the cave it came from, eager that this could be the gods finally retrieved my wayward soul.

I was not the only one to enter.

Hell Knights, fallen Adventurers or soldiers succumbed to a Demons will, also entered the gate.

I explained this to the party before me, healing their wounds dealt by the errant Knights.

'So, you lived a thousand lifetimes, all filled with strife or war, but you also only remember living just a week's worth of memories?'

I stopped.

'I suppose so, yeah. Time works differently in those realms, what may be a year here could be a thousand there.'

The Archer, Keith, stood and stretched.

'Well, I think that's enough action for awhile, so how about we head back to the city?'

We left the caves, exhausted and ready for a meal. It was then that I noticed I was still wearing the simple chainmail armor at the time of my death, a clear hole ripped through the mail and gambeson into my chest.

The Knight's bodies dissolved to ash, leaving nothing to loot. As we walked back to town, I answered the flurry of questions asked by the mage, Lynn. The woman seemed enthralled by my experience, soaking up every detail I told her. I left out some experiences, of course.

I held no doubt that because my soul was locked away from the heavens, creatures like The Demon King could torture lost souls like me.

I told them of one of the first things I could remember. It like I was run through a gauntlet, forever trapped in a dungeon facing off against increasingly difficult beasts. My life was short, my death quick. Some basilisk like creature had ripped me apart effortlessly.

I kept the last two experiences to myself, resolving that only holy beings like Aqua would hear of it.

I held onto the hope that she could help with what I saw. With what won't leave my mind.

Kazuma informed me as to what happened to them. Guilt built in my heart as he told of how devastated they were, and how my loss changed them. They bet nearly everything on the plan that I could see the soapstones light.

The weight of the situation nearly crushed me.

We continued walking, the setting sun turning the horizon a beautiful orange, finally spotting Axel, the city of beginners.

Opening the door to the guild, a wave of sound overcame us. Aqua had a horrible gash on her head, and was wailing, tugging on the shirt of a man the four around me recognized. Megumin was on his back, with Darkness sitting down nearby, nursing a tankard.

'Ah! Kazuma, good, you're here! I apologize, please take your party back!' The man, looking incredibly tired and dirty, pleaded to Kazuma.

He thought for a moment, before simply shaking his head.

The man looked like he was about to cry, much like the goddess next to him, before I stepped forward.

'_Heal.'_

The wound closed, and the four of them looked up and stared at me, eyes widened.

'I die for nearly a week, and you're already like this?' I said lightheartedly. 'Geez, maybe-'

Aqua stormed to me and clocked the side of my head, knocking me back. I was immediately tackled to the ground, losing all the air in my lungs.

The blue haired goddess hugged me tightly, murmuring silently. Megumin and Darkness were close behind, also rushing to me. Darkness nearly crushed me, separating herself for a moment, contemplating something as her face grew red.

I barely got them away before I could suffocate, taking deep breaths to refill my deprived body.

Aqua stared at me, face red with tears. 'Don't you ever do that again, and you better start explaining how you are alive!'

I hastily did so.

I spent the next hour answering questions asked by my party, wolfing down a feast of meals set out in front of us. The tight knot of guilt in me slowly went away as we ate, our spirits high to just be alive and here again. Many of the guilds Adventurers noticed and came by, my shortened story repeated over a thousand times as I informed stunned comrades.

Dust, who I learned traded his party for ours early today, eventually reunited with his old party, almost crying in joy.

I did not know why he was so happy to get away from us, but the four of them left soon after.

Later in the night, when most of the Adventurers either left or were too drunk to leave, Darkness approached me. We were all tired and exhausted from the day, but I gave her my full attention as she spoke.

'I.. Wanted to give this to you. It seems to have served you better than I.'

She held out her sheathed longsword, its gold etchings catching and shining in the firelight.

I took the sword, inspecting it once more.

'It's as beautiful as I remember.'

I did nothing to stop the tear growing in my eye.

'What about you? Won't you need another sword?' I asked her

She looked away.

'Don't worry about that, that sword has a sister back at my family house.'

She smiled at me, a warm, longing, smile.

A light dusting of red grew on my face, and I smiled back.

'Thank you, Darkness.'

When I finally was able to go to sleep at the stables, with what few hours of night remained, I thought on what happened.

On what I saw, of the lives I lived.

I fell asleep easily enough, but I was tortured by nightmares, visions of what I experienced.

I woke up at the crack of dawn, warm light slowly appearing on the horizon.

The night before, I heard that my deceased body had suddenly vanished from the church's morgue, no signs of broken entry reported. I gave the church of Eris workers a curt surprise when I arrived. Once calmed down, they gave me what little items I had on me: My Xiphos, my coin pouch of Eris, and the small pack I carried, undamaged.

I visited Lorenz's shop, the forges smoke just beginning to rise as I walked there. Entering, I called out for him.

I heard then saw him, his face covered in soot as he wiped his hands with a cloth.

'Oh, Gods!'

Lorenz dropped the cloth and immediately went for one of the swords on the rack.

After a quick and frantic explanation of my situation, he sat down on a stool, eyes wide.

'We all thought you permanently dead, the priests unable to revive you. I completed your armor, by the way, as well as something special.'

He stood, grinning as he motioned for me to follow. Entering the back workshop, a wave of familiarity washed over me as I took in the sights and smells of the forge. He showed me an armor stand, the commissioned piece standing empty.

It was a set of plate armor painted black, a white cream tabard over the plate, a solid Black cross as its heraldry.

As I stood in awe, Lorenz moved behind me and brought me the item.

The crossbow pistol he presented was compact, the limb vertical and shortened, allowing it to be carried in a holster. There was space for a clip to be inserted in front of the trigger, filled with bolts.

'How.. How did you do it?' I asked.

'A friend, a crimson demon, visited not long ago. He was the one who gave me the idea for how the mechanism works. It draws the users mana, filling the manatite crystals built into the pistol, and expels that energy in a contained blast, projecting the bolt forward.'

I smiled at him, taking the pistol.

I sold my damaged chainmail, Xiphos, and Knife to him, using the Eris gained to purchase a Dagger, and to cover the rest of the costs that the commission required.

I stepped out of the shop wearing my new armor, the pistol holstered to my left and the sword sheathed on my right. The tabard cloak moved slightly in the wind.

I eventually reached the Adventurers guild, and pushed open the door.


End file.
